Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Sold by Bank of Montreal Can

Bank of Montreal Can lowered its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 80.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,169 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 88,631 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,866,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARES. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 40,019 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,764,000 after buying an additional 14,683 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 23,747 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,824,000 after buying an additional 3,701 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 55.2% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 93,586 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,129,000 after buying an additional 33,283 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 29,200.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 293 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 235,588 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $28,016,000 after buying an additional 2,996 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ares Management from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.85.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 1,075,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,475,750. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 1,075,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,475,750. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 12,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated 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 $58,162,788.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 604,316 shares of company stock valued at $87,718,000. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES stock opened at $158.05 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.87, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.21. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $96.00 and a 1 year high of $159.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $146.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $140.57.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $788.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $860.09 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 12.53%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.