Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. cut its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 727,922 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 2,589 shares during the period. Ares Capital accounts for 1.4% of Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $15,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% in the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.7 %

ARCC stock opened at $21.28 on Monday. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a PE ratio of 8.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $22.88 and a 200-day moving average of $21.91.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.02%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on ARCC. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James cut shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.