Generation Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Generation Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 18,750 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Montag & Caldwell LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $20.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.33 and a beta of 0.77. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.61.

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.