National Bank of Canada FI Reduces Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 197,425 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 17,551 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $34,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $154.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $169.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.58. The firm has a market cap of $48.72 billion, a PE ratio of 76.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Equities research analysts predict 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 was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. The trade was a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.