Bruni J V & Co. Co. Purchases 6,001 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Bruni J V & Co. Co. grew its position in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,398,203 shares of the investment management company’s stock after buying an additional 6,001 shares during the quarter. Ares Capital accounts for 3.5% of Bruni J V & Co. Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Bruni J V & Co. Co. owned about 0.25% of Ares Capital worth $28,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ARCC. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ares Capital by 95.8% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,009 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $467,000 after acquiring an additional 11,750 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Ares Capital by 7.3% during the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 32,987 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the period. My Legacy Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ares Capital by 4.3% in the third quarter. My Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 56,462 shares of the investment management company’s stock worth $1,068,000 after buying an additional 2,340 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Capital during the third quarter worth $25,000. Finally, All Season Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Ares Capital by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. All Season Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 33,563 shares of the investment management company’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARCC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. B. Riley cut Ares Capital from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective on shares of Ares Capital in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.80.

Ares Capital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ARCC traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $20.78. 2,640,447 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,468,332. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 1.00. Ares Capital Co. has a 52-week low of $17.53 and a 52-week high of $20.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The investment management company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.03. Ares Capital had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 58.22%. The firm had revenue of $707.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $669.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Capital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.24%. Ares Capital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.91%.

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.