Southland Equity Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Southland Equity Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,510 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 631,334 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,872,559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $460,525,000 after purchasing an additional 71,819 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,644,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $272,033,000 after purchasing an additional 78,781 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $205,499,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 216.3% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,253,644 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $149,083,000 after acquiring an additional 857,245 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $133.87 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $137.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.21. Ares Management Co. has a 1-year low of $90.49 and a 1-year high of $150.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.48 billion, a PE ratio of 60.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $707.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.88 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 12.86%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 166.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Ares Management from $153.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $131.00 to $127.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $176.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, Director Judy D. Olian sold 3,417 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.00, for a total transaction of $457,878.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,659,808. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 157,837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.22, for a total value of $23,394,600.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,163 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,660,399.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Judy D. Olian sold 3,417 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.00, for a total transaction of $457,878.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,659,808. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,386,265 shares of company stock valued at $188,347,983. Insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

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.