Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,293 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the period. Ares Capital makes up 1.0% of Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Stonebridge Financial Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Ares Capital by 411.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,952 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 137.2% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,142 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 2,351 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on ARCC shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, B. Riley lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.80.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

ARCC traded down $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.61. 2,551,220 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,525,635. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.53 and a fifty-two week high of $20.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $20.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.04. The company has a market capitalization of $12.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $707.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.78 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 58.22% and a return on equity of 12.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.32%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 71.91%.

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.