RFG Advisory LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 11,051 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Ares Management by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,147 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $203,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,746 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,015,834.24. This trade represents a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their target price on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.92.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $197.39 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $117.47 and a fifty-two week high of $197.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.96, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.74.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

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.