Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Increases Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,649 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 31.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $444,103,000 after purchasing an additional 678,549 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 36.9% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 61,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $9,533,000 after buying an additional 16,499 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 181.7% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,117 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,577,000 after buying an additional 6,525 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,928 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after acquiring an additional 2,025 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Ares Management by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 22,118 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,471,000 after acquiring an additional 949 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $145.07 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $172.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a PE ratio of 71.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (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, research analysts forecast 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 paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

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.