Pinion Investment Advisors LLC Sells 609 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Pinion Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,839 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 609 shares during the period. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Ares Capital by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after buying an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management raised its position in Ares Capital by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after purchasing an additional 531,305 shares in the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $8,870,000. Vista Finance LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,413,000. Finally, LGT Group Foundation bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,397,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $23.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $15.60 billion, a PE ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average of $22.84 and a 200 day moving average of $21.83. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted 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, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share 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 8.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

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.