Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 43.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,900 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,403 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Ares Capital by 62.7% during the second quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 88.9% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARCC has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.86.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $22.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.05. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $22.15. The firm has a market cap of $14.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.47 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. Ares Capital’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 73.85%.

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.