Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Purchased by CIBC Asset Management Inc

CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 910 shares during the quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,195,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 5.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $106,436,000 after buying an additional 36,476 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Ares Management by 31.2% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in Ares Management by 134.1% in the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after buying an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 3.2 %

ARES stock opened at $174.00 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $184.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.71, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.57%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 30,680 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.16, for a total value of $5,404,588.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 392,200 shares of company stock worth $70,426,505. Company insiders own 1.20% 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.