Simplicity Solutions LLC Makes New $225,000 Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Simplicity Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,888 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 68.0% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,485 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 2,624 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Ares Management by 172.3% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 32,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,690,000 after purchasing an additional 20,816 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $684,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 0.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,191,021 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $502,895,000 after buying an additional 45,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its stake in Ares Management by 12.4% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 7,460 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $645,000 after buying an additional 825 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $129.53 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $40.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $77.97 and a twelve month high of $139.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.87.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total value of $11,299,170.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,245,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,004,636.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total transaction of $9,917,567.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,833,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock valued at $199,049,946. 47.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ARES. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.17.

Ares Management Profile

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.