Bell Bank Has $10.60 Million Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Bell Bank grew its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 484,052 shares of the investment management company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,325 shares during the period. Ares Capital accounts for approximately 0.8% of Bell Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Bell Bank’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $10,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. 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. raised 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 buying an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in 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. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in Ares Capital by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $23.30 on Friday. 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.70. The company has a market cap of $15.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. Research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.24%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, B. Riley upped their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

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.