Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stake Increased by Jones Financial Companies Lllp

Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 89.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,887 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 4,189 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter worth $28,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Ares Capital by 92.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at $67,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.44 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The company has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.89.

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

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently 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.