Intrepid Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Intrepid Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,209 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $442,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ARCC. StoneX Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 33.9% in the fourth quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 52,356 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after buying an additional 13,267 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 60,227 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 3,675 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 795,120 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $17,405,000 after acquiring an additional 144,957 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $830,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 25,419 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $556,000 after buying an additional 3,476 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $22.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.10 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.61%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

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.