Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC reduced its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,384 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 5,453 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,416,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 4th quarter valued at about $519,000. Round Rock Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,512,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 507,374 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 25,347 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 24.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 650,163 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $13,900,000 after purchasing an additional 127,219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 885,406 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $18,540,000 after purchasing an additional 38,559 shares in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ARCC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Ares Capital from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Ares Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.94.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $22.91 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.57. 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 market cap of $15.38 billion, a PE ratio of 9.35 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 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.