68,735 Shares in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Bought by Certior Financial Group LLC

Certior Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 68,735 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,505,000. Ares Capital comprises about 1.3% of Certior Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of 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% in the 4th 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 period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its position in Ares Capital by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $19.97 on Monday. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.03 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $22.63 and its 200 day moving average is $22.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $13.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.15 and a beta of 0.77.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.61%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

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.