HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Makes New Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

by · The Markets Daily

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES – Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,416 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth about $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 4,557.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $230,981,000 after buying an additional 1,276,743 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after acquiring an additional 907,757 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARES. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.33.

Get Our Latest Report on ARES

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Trading Down 15.5 %

ARES stock opened at $130.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $41.19 billion, a PE ratio of 64.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $168.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

Ares Management Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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