TCW Group Inc. Buys New Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

TCW Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,919 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $2,818,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Ares Management in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Ares Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 1,572.7% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $174.00 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $184.95 and its 200 day moving average is $168.76. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $54.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.71, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.57%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 30,465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.16, for a total transaction of $5,366,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $242,220,000. This represents a 2.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 304,823 shares of company stock valued at $55,063,881 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

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.