Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Sells 2,482 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc cut its holdings in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,349 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 2,482 shares during the quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Centennial Bank AR bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter worth about $102,000. Finally, FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 562.5% during the 3rd quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,300 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $22.43 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average of $21.82 and a 200 day moving average of $21.24. The company has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.63 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $22.43.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.45 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.56%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is 73.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ARCC. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital 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.