Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Purchases 2,573 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 101,043 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 2,573 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ARCC. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 1,142,859 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $25,017,000 after acquiring an additional 31,436 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $252,000. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 200.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in Ares Capital by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 92,384 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,022,000 after buying an additional 30,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Capital by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 181,631 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $3,976,000 after buying an additional 65,340 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.7 %

ARCC stock opened at $22.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.27 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.56. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Equities analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.