Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stake Lessened by Venturi Wealth Management LLC

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,682 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $37,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter worth $67,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. StockNews.com lowered Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $23.15 on Wednesday. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $23.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $22.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $15.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.