Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Purchases 38,624 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 305,583 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 38,624 shares during the quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $6,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $22.05 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.70. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.26 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.93.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $599.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.32 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.66%.

Ares Capital Company Profile

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.