Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Position Increased by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 206,812 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,393 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.07% of Ares Management worth $28,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,207,381,000 after buying an additional 206,996 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,872,559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $460,525,000 after acquiring an additional 71,819 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $376,191,000 after acquiring an additional 933,664 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 38.5% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,171,188 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $289,376,000 after purchasing an additional 603,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at $205,499,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $137.39 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $96.00 and a fifty-two week high of $155.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.18. 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 company has a market cap of $42.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.22.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. The company 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 previous year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 166.82%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.94, for a total transaction of $19,791,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 125,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.94, for a total value of $16,492,500.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.94, for a total transaction of $19,791,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 711,815 shares of company stock worth $99,973,606 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. 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 report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Ares Management from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $138.92.

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.