Strs Ohio Makes New Investment in Ares Capital Corporation $ARCC

Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ:ARCC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 10,500,000 shares of the investment management company’s stock, valued at approximately $189,210,000. Ares Capital accounts for about 0.8% of Strs Ohio’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Palladiem LLC acquired a new position in Ares Capital in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SWAN Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Sankala Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Capital during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 27.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ARCC. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $19.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Ares Capital in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $21.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Ares Capital from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, B. Riley Financial cut their price target on Ares Capital from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.60.

Ares Capital Price Performance

Shares of ARCC opened at $18.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Ares Capital Corporation has a twelve month low of $17.40 and a twelve month high of $23.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.70 and a 200-day moving average of $19.11.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The investment management company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.01). Ares Capital had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 37.30%.The business had revenue of $763.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $778.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Capital Corporation will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.3%. Ares Capital’s payout ratio is 117.79%.

About Ares Capital

Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) is a publicly traded business development company (BDC) that specializes in providing debt and equity financing solutions to U.S. middle-market companies. As a BDC, Ares Capital offers investors access to a diversified portfolio of tailored credit investments, including senior secured loans, unitranche financing, mezzanine debt and equity co-investments. The firm’s flexible capital structures are designed to support companies seeking growth capital, refinancing or strategic acquisitions.

Through its credit platform, Ares Capital focuses on originations, underwriting and portfolio management across a range of industries, with a particular emphasis on sectors such as healthcare, technology, industrials and business services.