Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 39.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 49,289 shares during the period. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $1,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 792,143 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $15,423,000 after buying an additional 18,695 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 0.6% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 738,614 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $14,381,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 13.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 430,678 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $8,385,000 after purchasing an additional 50,717 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 119,814 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $2,333,000 after purchasing an additional 15,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Total Clarity Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $200,000. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ARCC shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. B. Riley lowered shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.29.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ ARCC traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $20.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 930,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,497,822. The stock has a market cap of $12.62 billion, a PE ratio of 7.80 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.05. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $17.53 and a 52 week high of $21.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The investment management company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 58.22% and a return on equity of 12.50%. The company had revenue of $701.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $703.85 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.23%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.91%.

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.