Global Assets Advisory LLC Acquires 5,957 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Global Assets Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 31.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,608 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,957 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth about $84,426,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in 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 valued at $309,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,268,547 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $93,439,000 after acquiring an additional 881,450 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,951,926 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $174,068,000 after purchasing an additional 871,370 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.4 %

ARCC stock opened at $21.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a PE ratio of 8.60 and a beta of 0.70. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $18.26 and a one year high of $23.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $21.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.89. 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 (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by ($0.04). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. The business had revenue of $599.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $769.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Ares Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.11%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 93.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.50 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

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.