IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $4.40 Million Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,115 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,653 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Hartford Financial Management Inc. grew its stake in Ares Management by 47.4% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 13,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Ares Management by 66.7% during the first quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 250 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 73.9% in the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Ares Management by 33.2% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total value of $5,154,680.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 96,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,727,419.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total value of $5,154,680.90. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,727,419.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total value of $11,299,170.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,245,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,004,636.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946. 47.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ARES traded down $0.11 during trading on Friday, hitting $133.62. The stock had a trading volume of 501,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,089,258. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $133.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.74. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $77.97 and a 12 month high of $139.48. The company has a market capitalization of $41.37 billion, a PE ratio of 55.88, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 155.65%.

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.