Grimes & Company Inc. Increases Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Grimes & Company Inc. grew its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,625 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,408 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 49,165 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 51,475 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,127,000 after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Accel Wealth Management increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 46,678 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after buying an additional 898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PCG Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. PCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,253 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $23.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.14 billion, a PE ratio of 9.01 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.53. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.37.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. Ares Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.19%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.29.

About Ares Capital

Ares Capital Corporation is a business development company specializing in acquisition, recapitalization, mezzanine debt, restructurings, rescue financing, and leveraged buyout transactions of middle market companies. It also makes growth capital and general refinancing. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the basic and growth manufacturing, business services, consumer products, health care products and services, and information technology service sectors.