Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. Takes Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,479 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $232,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.1%

Ares Capital stock opened at $22.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 0.68. Ares Capital Co. has a 1-year low of $18.26 and a 1-year high of $23.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $21.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.94.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.65%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on 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, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.00.

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.