Archer Investment Corp Sells 780 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Archer Investment Corp trimmed its stake in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 33.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,520 shares of the investment management company’s stock after selling 780 shares during the quarter. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in Ares Capital were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Ares Capital by 62.7% in the second quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC purchased a new position in Ares Capital during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ares Capital during the second quarter worth about $32,000. nVerses Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 88.9% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Ares Capital Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ARCC opened at $21.51 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.00. Ares Capital Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.32 and a fifty-two week high of $22.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $13.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 1.01.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last issued its 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 return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 53.71%. The company had revenue of $755.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $770.45 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.93%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Compass Point raised Ares Capital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ares Capital to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ares Capital from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.86.

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.