National Bank of Canada FI Trims Holdings in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its holdings in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 2.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 192,384 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 5,041 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $28,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 104.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 125.6% during the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 107,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total transaction of $17,344,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $225,876,000. This trade represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $14,347,150.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 873,145 shares of company stock valued at $146,204,353 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.19.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $188.53 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $61.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.98, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.40. Ares Management Corporation has a 52 week low of $110.63 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $176.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 16.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 258.96%.

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.