Integras Partners LLC Takes $1.54 Million Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Integras Partners 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 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 70,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,537,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter worth $58,159,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,145,706 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $309,649,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489,552 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $48,419,000 after acquiring an additional 531,305 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 48.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,400,539 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $30,658,000 after acquiring an additional 458,360 shares during the period. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth about $8,870,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $21.44 on Friday. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.89. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $19.32 and a 52-week high of $23.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a PE ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARCC has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.