BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Lowers Stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S trimmed its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 37.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,893 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 14,106 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $479,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Ares Capital by 11.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 840,823 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Capital by 1,865.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,214,991 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $844,260,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000,570 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ares Capital by 0.8% during the 3rd 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. CCLA Investment Management increased its stake in Ares Capital by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. CCLA Investment Management now owns 2,047,849 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $41,105,000 after purchasing an additional 24,302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 3.5% during 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 in the last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.8 %

ARCC stock opened at $21.20 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $18.00 and a 52-week high of $21.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.26. The firm has a market cap of $13.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.26 and a beta of 0.99.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $703.85 million. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.37% and a net margin of 62.77%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.06%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $21.50 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.50.

About Ares Capital

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.