Independent Advisor Alliance Acquires Shares of 229,547 Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Independent Advisor Alliance bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 229,547 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,025,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 25,347 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after purchasing an additional 127,219 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $18,540,000 after purchasing an additional 38,559 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $21.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.90. The company has a market cap of $14.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.92 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 $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its 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%. Equities analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 8.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARCC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

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.