Canton Hathaway LLC Acquires 90 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Canton Hathaway LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 790 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $140,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1,572.7% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 435 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 30,465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.16, for a total transaction of $5,366,714.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,220,000. This trade represents a 2.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 29,107 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.15, for a total value of $5,127,198.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 304,823 shares of company stock valued at $55,063,881. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $168.81 on Tuesday. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $52.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $184.65 and its 200 day moving average is $168.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ARES. Barclays decreased their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Company 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.