Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by MRP Capital Investments LLC

MRP Capital Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 13.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,455 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 4,750 shares during the period. MRP Capital Investments LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 40,697 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $891,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Oxford Financial Group LTD. LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at about $230,000. Palogic Value Management L.P. boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 104,565 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,289,000 after buying an additional 4,970 shares in the last quarter. Condor Capital Management boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 200,634 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,392,000 after buying an additional 1,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $478,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ARCC opened at $21.73 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.91. 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 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $14.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (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%. Analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.84%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

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.