Palacios Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 28,710 Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Palacios Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 28,710 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,000. Ares Capital comprises about 0.7% of Palacios Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 82.2% in the 4th quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 4,440 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 2,003 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.7 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $23.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $15.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.42 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $22.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.58. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. On average, analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.32%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

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.