Prana Capital Management LP Takes $25.10 Million Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Prana Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 141,768 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $25,097,000. Ares Management comprises 1.2% of Prana Capital Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 104.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 43.0% in the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price objective on Ares Management and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $159.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.50.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $175.66 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.62. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $55.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. The firm had revenue of $951.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $914.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 263.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 250,180 shares of company stock valued at $39,411,066. Corporate insiders own 36.86% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Management

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.