New South Capital Management Inc. Sells 14,585 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

New South Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 2.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 547,903 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 14,585 shares during the period. New South Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $11,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Parcion Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital by 9.5% in the 2nd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,982 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Gentry Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at approximately $383,000. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 117,123 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,441,000 after buying an additional 5,280 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 292,740 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $6,101,000 after buying an additional 28,430 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 159,290 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,320,000 after buying an additional 7,732 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ARCC. JMP Securities increased their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Compass Point raised Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.71.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $20.52 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.03 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $18.55 and a one year high of $21.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The investment management company reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 59.76%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $714.27 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.36%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 65.75%.

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.