BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Increases Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 73.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,549 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,607 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Curated Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Ares Management by 199.7% in the second quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,658,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $221,007,000 after acquiring an additional 3,321,434 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the first quarter valued at $264,729,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Ares Management by 58.5% in the 2nd 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 during the period. M&G Plc grew its stake in Ares Management by 711.1% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 1,015,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $134,996,000 after acquiring an additional 889,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ares Management by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,392,349 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,949,378,000 after purchasing an additional 631,334 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $156.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.35 billion, a PE ratio of 69.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.21. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $96.00 and a fifty-two week high of $159.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $145.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $139.75.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $788.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $860.09 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 20.46%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.15 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 166.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $156.00 price target for the company. UBS Group cut 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. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 27,120 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total transaction of $3,950,570.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 222,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,466,929.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.40, for a total value of $1,930,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 376,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,162,788.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 27,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total transaction of $3,950,570.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 222,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,466,929.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 604,316 shares of company stock worth $87,718,000. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.