Summit Trail Advisors LLC Makes New $225,000 Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,273 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1,572.7% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ARES. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,364,874.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,495,125.76. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. This trade represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 633,100 shares of company stock worth $111,492,196 in the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $182.70 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $184.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $57.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 90.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $125.23 and a one year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

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.