Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Buys New Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 104,567 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,289,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $272,107,000 after purchasing an additional 975,045 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management grew its position in Ares Capital by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after buying an additional 531,305 shares during the period. Columbus Macro LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth about $8,870,000. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 21.2% during the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $37,428,000 after buying an additional 312,255 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $22.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.36 billion, a PE ratio of 9.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.55. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.40%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.