Russell Investments Group Ltd. Raises Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 20.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 28,870 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,842 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $5,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $126,622,000 after acquiring an additional 32,273 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 134.1% during the 4th quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $138.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. 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 1 year low of $110.63 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $156.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.93.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ARES. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. JMP Securities raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $165.40.

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.