Barclays PLC Sells 128,084 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Barclays PLC reduced its stake in shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 124,728 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 128,084 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $2,612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Asset Dedication LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Horizon Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Ares Capital during the third quarter valued at $28,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its position in Ares Capital by 88.9% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 56.8% in 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 last quarter. 27.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 1.0 %

ARCC opened at $21.75 on Wednesday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.12. The company has a market capitalization of $14.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.37 and a beta of 1.01. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $19.32 and a 52 week high of $22.43.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a net margin of 53.71% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The firm had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.83%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ARCC shares. B. Riley increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Capital from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Three research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.29.

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.