Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by Wambolt & Associates LLC

Wambolt & Associates LLC lowered its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 216,539 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 28,739 shares during the period. Ares Capital makes up about 1.5% of Wambolt & Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its stake in 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 worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.05 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.94. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.71%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on 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. increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

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.