EP Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,962 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,868 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $4,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Ares Management in the third quarter worth about $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Ares Management by 40.0% in the second quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 80.4% during the 2nd quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 30,465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.16, for a total value of $5,366,714.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $242,220,000. The trade was a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 598,530 shares of company stock valued at $100,265,260 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $178.07 on Monday. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $107.82 and a 52 week high of $180.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $167.90 and a 200 day moving average of $151.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.06, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.19.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $166.36.

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.