Korea Investment CORP Raises Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Korea Investment CORP increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 49.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 137,415 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,400 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $24,327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ARES. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $145.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a twelve month low of $125.23 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.25.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.09%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 183.25%.

Ares Management Company 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.