Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Acquires New Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 97,805 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,141,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 92.6% during the 4th quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 2,889 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $67,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. B. Riley increased their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $23.30 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.61 and a 200-day moving average of $21.71. The company has a market cap of $15.64 billion, a PE ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a one year low of $19.32 and a one year high of $23.84.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

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

Ares Capital Company 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.