Everstar Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Everstar Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 46,080 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 222,101 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $4,651,000 after buying an additional 44,548 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Ares Capital by 331.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 178,224 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $3,732,000 after purchasing an additional 136,927 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Ares Capital by 11.1% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 41,408 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 4,137 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 34,031 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,547,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARCC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.11 on Monday. Ares Capital Co. has a 1 year low of $19.32 and a 1 year high of $23.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.13 billion, a PE ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 1.00. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $22.80 and its 200 day moving average is $21.99.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 11.54% and a net margin of 50.90%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.68%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.