Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC Invests $214,000 in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,757 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARCC. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,148 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 56,182 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. Western Financial Corp CA raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Western Financial Corp CA now owns 26,387 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $578,000 after buying an additional 564 shares during the period. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,086 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.98.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 78.37%.

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.