Mallini Complete Financial Planning LLC Invests $790,000 in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Mallini Complete Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 36,072 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $790,000. Ares Capital comprises about 0.7% of Mallini Complete Financial Planning LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% in the fourth 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Ares Capital stock opened at $21.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The stock has a market cap of $14.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.89.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.