Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $1.26 Million Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,628 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ARES. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 797.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 21,995 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,263,000 after acquiring an additional 19,545 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1,176.2% during the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 4,288 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $441,000 after acquiring an additional 3,952 shares during the period. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 8.5% during the third quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,890 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $747,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 17.3% in the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 5,199 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 767 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,245,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,004,636.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,245,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,004,636.63. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total transaction of $23,393,301.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock valued at $199,049,946 in the last three months. Company insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 3.4 %

ARES opened at $136.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $77.97 and a fifty-two week high of $139.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.27 billion, a PE ratio of 57.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average is $133.15 and its 200 day moving average is $120.38.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. 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 dividend yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 155.65%.

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.