Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stock Position Decreased by Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp cut its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,714 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 4,069 shares during the quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $272,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $223,000. SpiderRock Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 113.5% in the third quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 134,314 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,813,000 after purchasing an additional 71,403 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 8.2% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 51,256 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 3,868 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 3.0 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $23.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $15.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.39 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $22.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.87.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results 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, analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ARCC shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

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.