Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 192,841 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 2,970 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $4,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 2,104.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $272,107,000 after buying an additional 975,045 shares during the period. CCLA Investment Management increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 31.6% in the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,211,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $48,419,000 after acquiring an additional 531,305 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,815,000. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 21.2% during the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 1,787,401 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $37,428,000 after purchasing an additional 312,255 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $22.66 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $21.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.26. The firm has a market cap of $14.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.72 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $22.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on ARCC shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. B. Riley raised their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.29.

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.