Balentine LLC Buys Shares of 29,304 Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Balentine LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 29,304 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 41.3% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 26,338 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 7,695 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 7.8% during the first quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,099,134 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $64,524,000 after buying an additional 223,245 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 19.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,990 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 206.7% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 55,516 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 37,412 shares during the period. Finally, Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 200.6% in the 1st quarter. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp now owns 138,704 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $2,888,000 after acquiring an additional 92,569 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $13.57 billion, a PE ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is $21.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.96. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $22.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

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

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.14%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. Compass Point upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. 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 note on Tuesday, July 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.86.

About Ares Capital

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.