AIA Group Ltd Raises Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,800 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 32.5% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,705,000 after buying an additional 4,996 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Ares Management by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,674,000 after acquiring an additional 38,047 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden lifted its position in Ares Management by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 39,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,186,000 after acquiring an additional 6,600 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 9,510.9% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 5,286 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $703,000 after purchasing an additional 5,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the first quarter valued at about $968,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ARES. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $170.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $53.24 billion, a PE ratio of 78.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $157.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $101.44 and a twelve month high of $175.74.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.51% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 18,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total value of $3,210,874.22. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 254,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,650,754.30. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total transaction of $10,728,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 18,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total transaction of $3,210,874.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 254,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,650,754.30. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 640,969 shares of company stock valued at $94,589,722 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.