Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 61.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,153 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 110,000 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth about $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $11,208,000 after buying an additional 25,347 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $13,900,000 after buying an additional 127,219 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Ares Capital by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,540,000 after acquiring an additional 38,559 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $23.22 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market capitalization of $15.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.73.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. Sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.27%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ARCC. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James cut Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Company 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.