Proficio Capital Partners LLC Buys New Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 177,842 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $31,483,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 1,572.7% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 435 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $77,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES opened at $170.93 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $184.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.35. The company has a market capitalization of $53.51 billion, a PE ratio of 84.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly 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%. Research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the sale, the insider now owns 247,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379 in the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.