LGL Partners LLC Makes New $209,000 Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

LGL Partners LLC bought a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,183 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $982,058,000 after purchasing an additional 63,851 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $566,826,000 after purchasing an additional 352,126 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES opened at $167.36 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $184.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $52.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.44, 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.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. This represents a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379 in the last ninety days. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.