TD Asset Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

TD Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 4,557.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,276,743 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $230,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 5.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $106,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,476 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Ares Management by 31.2% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $335,858,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the period. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 134.1% in the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES opened at $153.81 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.51 billion, a PE ratio of 75.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $174.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.35. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ARES shares. Barclays lowered 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 dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

Ares Management 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.