Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Acquires 970 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,475 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 970 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449,395 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $272,107,000 after purchasing an additional 975,045 shares in the last quarter. CCLA Investment Management boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $48,419,000 after buying an additional 531,305 shares during the last quarter. Partners Group Holding AG grew its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 21.2% in the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $37,428,000 after buying an additional 312,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Management Network Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,018,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.6 %

Ares Capital stock opened at $23.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $15.05 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $22.15 and its 200 day moving average is $21.39. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.53.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The company 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 company earned $0.59 EPS. Ares Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.24%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 73.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley increased their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.29.

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.