Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 37.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,760 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $209,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $107,777,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,836,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,866 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 159.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,502,659 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $125,383,000 after purchasing an additional 922,675 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $93,682,000. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 10,618,459 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $886,004,000 after purchasing an additional 701,738 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $130.70 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $77.97 and a 12-month high of $139.48. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.54. The company has a market capitalization of $40.46 billion, a PE ratio of 54.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.17. 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 (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 155.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total value of $23,393,301.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 174,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.89, for a total value of $23,505,661.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total value of $23,393,301.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,350,871 shares of company stock valued at $180,169,187 in the last quarter. 47.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.