DnB Asset Management AS Grows Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

DnB Asset Management AS increased its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 121,443 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,089 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $21,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,482,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $416,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $845,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $145.07 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a PE ratio of 71.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $172.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.25. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 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, analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share 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 issued a $1.12 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915 in the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management 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.