Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,358 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter worth $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Ares Management by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $139.77 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $179.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.84. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $125.23 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.85, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.