Sound Income Strategies LLC Grows Position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,314,269 shares of the investment management company’s stock after purchasing an additional 96,992 shares during the period. Ares Capital makes up about 3.1% of Sound Income Strategies LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Sound Income Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.36% of Ares Capital worth $50,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Horizon Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,510 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Centennial Bank AR bought a new position in Ares Capital in the third quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ares Capital by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,900 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARCC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. B. Riley raised their price objective on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.29.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

Shares of ARCC stock opened at $23.38 on Friday. Ares Capital Co. has a twelve month low of $19.32 and a twelve month high of $23.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.00.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The investment management company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for 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 12.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.85%.

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.