Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,354 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $3,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 40.0% in the second quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the second quarter worth approximately $53,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 80.4% in the 2nd quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,775 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total transaction of $3,311,323.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 230,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,551,176.25. This represents a 7.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 666,030 shares of company stock worth $109,779,010 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $173.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.16, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $166.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.62. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $107.69 and a one year high of $180.38.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.36.

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.