Magnetar Financial LLC Trims Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Magnetar Financial LLC reduced its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 46.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,751 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 14,289 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its stake in Ares Management by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 13,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 250 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 1,073 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 1,613 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp raised its stake in Ares Management by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 32,668 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,344,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total transaction of $6,260,151.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,075,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,475,750. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total transaction of $6,260,151.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,475,750. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.40, for a total value of $1,930,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 376,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,162,788.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 604,316 shares of company stock worth $87,718,000. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on ARES shares. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on Ares Management from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Ares Management from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.42.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES opened at $156.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $48.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.46. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $96.00 and a 1-year high of $158.50.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $788.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $860.09 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 12.53%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 166.82%.

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.