Certuity LLC Acquires 626 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Certuity LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,491 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the quarter. Certuity LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $370,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 8,282,079 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $165,890,000 after buying an additional 840,823 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 1,865.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,214,991 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $844,260,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000,570 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 0.8% in the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,043,209 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $59,251,000 after purchasing an additional 23,276 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,954,786 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $39,154,000 after purchasing an additional 66,878 shares during the period. Finally, Bruni J V & Co. Co. increased its position in shares of Ares Capital by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Bruni J V & Co. Co. now owns 1,398,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $28,006,000 after purchasing an additional 6,001 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, B. Riley lowered Ares Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.80.

Ares Capital Stock Up 1.2 %

ARCC opened at $20.85 on Thursday. Ares Capital Co. has a 12 month low of $17.53 and a 12 month high of $21.00. The company has a market cap of $12.65 billion, a PE ratio of 7.81 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a 50 day moving average of $20.38 and a 200 day moving average of $20.05.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $701.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $703.85 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 58.22%. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.21%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is presently 71.91%.

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.