Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Stake Boosted by Sargent Investment Group LLC

Sargent Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 274,975 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,440 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital accounts for about 1.2% of Sargent Investment Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Sargent Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $5,508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 411.0% during the third quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,952 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 137.2% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 2,142 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares during the period. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 59.3% during the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 2,351 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the period. Finally, CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ ARCC traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.78. 2,640,447 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,468,332. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $17.53 and a fifty-two week high of $20.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.61 billion, a PE ratio of 7.78 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.02.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $707.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $669.78 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 58.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 71.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ARCC shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a 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 report on Monday, January 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.80.

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.