Benjamin Edwards Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 6.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,361 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 407 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $848,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,207,381,000 after purchasing an additional 206,996 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $674,183,000 after buying an additional 1,867,933 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 49.4% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $376,191,000 after acquiring an additional 933,664 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 24.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $308,754,000 after acquiring an additional 453,657 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 38.5% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,171,188 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $289,376,000 after acquiring an additional 603,676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.12, for a total transaction of $1,421,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 446,702 shares in the company, valued at $63,485,288.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.12, for a total transaction of $1,421,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 446,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,485,288.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 604,316 shares of company stock worth $87,718,000. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Ares Management from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Ares Management from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.42.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $156.66 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $96.00 and a 12-month high of $157.53. The firm has a market cap of $48.54 billion, a PE ratio of 70.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $145.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.27.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 12.53%. The business had revenue of $788.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $860.09 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 166.82%.

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.