Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Holdings Reduced by WESPAC Advisors LLC

WESPAC Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,397 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 574 shares during the period. WESPAC Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $741,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Ares Capital by 62.7% during the second quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the second quarter worth $32,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 88.9% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.02 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $22.05.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.72%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.85%.

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.