Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Acquired by Stiles Financial Services Inc

Stiles Financial Services Inc boosted its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 91.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,957 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,879 shares during the quarter. Stiles Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Ares Capital by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Finally, Centennial Bank AR purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth approximately $102,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the topic of several recent research reports. B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.74 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.28 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $19.32 and a 12 month high of $23.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.54.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

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.