Optimum Investment Advisors Lowers Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Optimum Investment Advisors reduced its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,799 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors’ holdings in Ares Capital were worth $390,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ARCC. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $48,419,000 after acquiring an additional 531,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 48.6% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,400,539 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $30,658,000 after acquiring an additional 458,360 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $14.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.88 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.92. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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, research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.