Allworth Financial LP Raises Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 187.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 475 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 310 shares during the quarter. Allworth Financial LP’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $56,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 149,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $17,829,000 after buying an additional 29,457 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 11.1% in the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 125,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,859,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $623,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 925,113 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $95,166,000 after buying an additional 38,174 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

Ares Management Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $131.35 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $77.97 and a 12-month high of $139.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.67 billion, a PE ratio of 54.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 155.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total transaction of $601,436.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,263,750. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total value of $11,299,170.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,245,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,004,636.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total value of $601,436.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $184,263,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,300,871 shares of company stock worth $173,683,187. Insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Management

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.