Breed s Hill Capital LLC Invests $220,000 in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Breed s Hill Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,849 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,761,015 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,621,336,000 after buying an additional 273,645 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 27.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,836,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,866 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 3.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,644,429 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $272,033,000 after purchasing an additional 78,781 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 91.2% in the third quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,464,266 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $150,629,000 after buying an additional 698,246 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 53.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,461,097 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $150,303,000 after buying an additional 506,935 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $153.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $128.46.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE:ARES traded up $3.71 on Thursday, hitting $142.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,467,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,044,335. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $80.07 and a one year high of $143.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $133.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.13). Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.63% and a net margin of 12.86%. The company had revenue of $707.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $814.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 166.82%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $12,727,419.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total transaction of $5,154,680.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 96,085 shares in the company, valued at $12,727,419.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 22,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.86, for a total value of $2,892,398.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 73,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,681,284.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946. Company insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

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.