HM Payson & Co. Sells 966 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

HM Payson & Co. decreased its position in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 13.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,361 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 966 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $133,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ARCC. SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Capital by 151.4% during the 2nd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 45,698 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $952,000 after acquiring an additional 27,523 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 4.6% during the third quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 681,724 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $14,275,000 after purchasing an additional 29,786 shares during the period. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital in the third quarter worth about $2,101,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 206.7% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 55,516 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 37,412 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Capital by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,099,134 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $64,524,000 after buying an additional 223,245 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. JMP Securities increased their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Ares Capital in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Compass Point raised shares of Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.86.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:ARCC opened at $21.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.94. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.24 and a fifty-two week high of $22.05.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $770.45 million. Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.31%. Ares Capital’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

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.