Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Has $710,000 Stock Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. lowered its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,426 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 2,279 shares during the quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $60,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 3,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ARCC shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Ares Capital stock opened at $22.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Ares Capital Co. has a 12-month low of $19.32 and a 12-month high of $23.84. The company has a market capitalization of $15.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.13 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.96.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) 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 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.59%. 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.