BNP Paribas Increases Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

BNP Paribas increased its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,066 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,724 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Ares Management were worth $8,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 64.3% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 9,312 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 3,644 shares during the last quarter. Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth about $515,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $18,663,000. Comerica Bank increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 49,185 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,707,000 after acquiring an additional 3,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Utah Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 30,700 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,435,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $157.46 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $49.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.57, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $146.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.73. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $110.63 and a 52-week high of $200.49.

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%. Analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $1.12 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915 over the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays dropped their price target on Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.00.

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.