Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Acquires 1,395 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 23.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Ares Management by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ARES. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed 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 given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES stock opened at $145.58 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $180.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.05. The company has a market capitalization of $45.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.71, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

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

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.