Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Takes $207,000 Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,168 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 554,086 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $98,089,000 after purchasing an additional 57,113 shares during the period. Prana Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,097,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in Ares Management by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 18,743 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Man Group plc increased its position in Ares Management by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 26,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,674,000 after buying an additional 7,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its position in Ares Management by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 22,777 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,088,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $165.98 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $54.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $110.63 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $149.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.63.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. The firm had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $914.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given 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 2.70%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 263.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 93,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.87, for a total transaction of $15,735,982.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 257,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,484,025. This trade represents a 26.57% 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 hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares in the company, valued at $4,906,009.26. This represents a 69.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 685,180 shares of company stock worth $113,177,573. 36.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer downgraded Ares Management from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Barclays increased their target price on Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their target price on Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.50.

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.