Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC Shares Sold by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 336,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 56,189 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $6,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARCC. Canal Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC now owns 32,955 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Ares Capital by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,394 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $865,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 10.0% during the second quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,830 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners lifted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.3% in the third quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 44,755 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $913,000 after buying an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ares Capital by 1.0% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 57,092 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,165,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ARCC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ares Capital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.38.

Ares Capital Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $17.45 on Friday. Ares Capital Corporation has a 12 month low of $17.40 and a 12 month high of $23.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.38 and a beta of 0.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.70.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The investment management company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Ares Capital had a net margin of 42.56% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The firm had revenue of $793.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Corporation will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.0%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Scott C. Lem bought 5,186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.29 per share, with a total value of $100,037.94. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 39,463 shares in the company, valued at $761,241.27. The trade was a 15.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Kort Schnabel purchased 12,500 shares of Ares Capital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $19.13 per share, for a total transaction of $239,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 40,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $774,765. This represents a 44.64% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 0.49% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Profile

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.