Bard Associates Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Bard Associates Inc. cut its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,384 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 871 shares during the quarter. Bard Associates Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $28,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 92.6% in the fourth quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $67,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $23.23 on Tuesday. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.84. The company has a market cap of $15.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.48 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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%. Analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.27%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.