Banco Santander S.A. Invests $231,000 in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,550 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $22.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.16 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $22.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued 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 return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARCC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on 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 lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital 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.