Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Shares Purchased by Hilton Capital Management LLC

Hilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 0.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 88,686 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Ares Management accounts for about 1.1% of Hilton Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $13,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 20.0% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 8,488 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 118.2% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 2,400 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 2.1% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 65,325 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $8,693,000 after acquiring an additional 1,345 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Ares Management in the first quarter worth approximately $1,995,000. Finally, Natixis grew its position in Ares Management by 401.4% in the first quarter. Natixis now owns 10,273 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 8,224 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total transaction of $10,728,750.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.74, for a total value of $2,826,505.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 81,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,928,054.38. This represents a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 590,579 shares of company stock valued at $89,737,173. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $170.35 on Wednesday. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $105.89 and a 52 week high of $175.74. The company’s 50 day moving average is $161.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $148.51. The company has a market cap of $53.33 billion, a PE ratio of 78.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.