Citigroup Inc. Raises Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 61,170 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,499 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $9,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $674,183,000 after buying an additional 1,867,933 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $444,103,000 after buying an additional 678,549 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 49.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $376,191,000 after buying an additional 933,664 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 24.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $308,754,000 after buying an additional 453,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 722.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,738,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $231,660,000 after buying an additional 1,526,856 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE ARES opened at $176.93 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $165.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.39. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $107.69 and a 12 month high of $180.38. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $55.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.53, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.20.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,775 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total transaction of $3,311,323.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 230,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,551,176.25. This represents a 7.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 26,579 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.66, for a total transaction of $3,791,760.14. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 75,000 shares in the company, valued at $10,699,500. This represents a 26.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 602,357 shares of company stock valued at $97,672,269. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.36.

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.