Principal Securities Inc. Reduces Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Principal Securities Inc. lowered its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 30.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,616 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 1,607 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $640,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $982,058,000 after purchasing an additional 63,851 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Ares Management by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after purchasing an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $459,580,000 after purchasing an additional 175,627 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of ARES opened at $179.90 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $56.32 billion, a PE ratio of 88.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $185.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.49%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 29,198 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.82, for a total value of $5,133,592.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 85,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,079,905.58. This trade represents a 25.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 392,200 shares of company stock worth $70,426,505 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ARES. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight 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 an average price target of $176.17.

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.