1,214 Shares in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Acquired by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,214 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE ARES opened at $155.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $49.18 billion, a PE ratio of 76.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.48. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. This represents a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $173.83.

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.