Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Buys Shares of 28,456 Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 28,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $5,038,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,006 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 23.8% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 7,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dearborn Partners LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC now owns 122,306 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $21,652,000 after acquiring an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 4.2 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $139.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $44.08 billion, a PE ratio of 68.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $179.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.84. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released 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 net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays cut their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

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.