Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) Shares Sold by Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 8.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,875 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 8.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,656,154 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $272,107,000 after buying an additional 975,045 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ares Capital by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 3,836,573 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $80,338,000 after acquiring an additional 63,999 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 2,104.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,613,285 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $756,620,000 after purchasing an additional 3,449,395 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Capital by 8.5% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,492,247 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $72,778,000 after purchasing an additional 273,025 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Ares Capital by 3.7% in the third quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 2,217,277 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $46,430,000 after purchasing an additional 79,074 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $13.90 billion, a PE ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $21.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $22.05.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued 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). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business had revenue of $755.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.93%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ARCC. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Monday, August 5th. B. Riley lifted their target price on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Compass Point upgraded Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Capital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.86.

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.