Tower Wealth Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,229 Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Tower Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Ares Management by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,924 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Ares Management by 1.3% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,205 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 31.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after acquiring an additional 678,549 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. purchased a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 65.7% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 41,509 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,469,000 after acquiring an additional 16,451 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES opened at $155.11 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $48.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.41, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $182.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.27. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 183.25%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, 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 transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 232,625 shares of company stock valued at $40,018,344. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Company Profile

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.