Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Takes $2.59 Million Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 19,424 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,589,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Curated Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 199.7% during the 2nd quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,658,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $221,007,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321,434 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $264,729,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Ares Management by 58.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $674,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,933 shares during the period. M&G Plc increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 711.1% in the second quarter. M&G Plc now owns 1,015,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $134,996,000 after buying an additional 889,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,392,349 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,949,378,000 after buying an additional 631,334 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $156.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total transaction of $6,260,151.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,075,000 shares in the company, valued at $161,475,750. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.12, for a total value of $1,421,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 446,702 shares in the company, valued at $63,485,288.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total value of $6,260,151.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,075,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,475,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 604,316 shares of company stock valued at $87,718,000. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.1 %

ARES opened at $156.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.29. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $96.00 and a 1-year high of $157.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $788.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 166.82%.

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.