Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Invests $2.29 Million in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 104,567 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,289,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its position in 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 during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $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 during the third quarter worth $67,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James lowered Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, B. Riley increased their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $23.27 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $22.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.62. The company has a market capitalization of $15.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.50 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 78.37%.

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.