O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,330 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 1,661 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 10.0 %

ARES opened at $117.54 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $166.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.09. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $113.24 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The company has a market cap of $37.07 billion, a PE ratio of 57.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $1.12 dividend. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management 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 sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ARES. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.38.

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.