Norden Group LLC Purchases 67,895 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Norden Group LLC boosted its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 2,695.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 67,895 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $9,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Ares Management during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 73.9% during the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 66.7% in the first quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 250 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $138.42 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $131.20. The company has a market cap of $42.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $92.95 and a twelve month high of $150.12.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.13). Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 12.86%. The company had revenue of $707.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 166.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 174,258 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.89, for a total transaction of $23,505,661.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 174,258 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.89, for a total transaction of $23,505,661.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.94, for a total value of $19,791,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,458,640 shares of company stock valued at $197,862,103. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $131.00 to $127.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $176.00 to $132.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.29.

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.