Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Sells $6,486,000.00 in Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 50,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.72, for a total transaction of $6,486,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $131.69 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $133.46 and a 200 day moving average of $119.47. The company has a market capitalization of $40.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.10, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $77.97 and a 12 month high of $139.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.93 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 155.65%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its stake 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 valued at $17,829,000 after buying an additional 29,457 shares during the period. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 66,950 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,962,000 after purchasing an additional 16,010 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Ares Management by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,268,000. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 11.1% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 125,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,859,000 after buying an additional 12,500 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ARES shares. Barclays dropped their price objective 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 boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.17.

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.