Hilton Capital Management LLC Has $6.90 Million Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Hilton Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 11.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 315,076 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 42,097 shares during the period. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $6,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted 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 in the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,086 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,455 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $21.44 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $14.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.94.

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.