Quantbot Technologies LP Decreases Stock Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Quantbot Technologies LP lowered its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 31.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,633 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 8,517 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $2,904,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 40.0% in the 2nd quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the second quarter valued at $53,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 80.4% during the second quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 21.0% in 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 14,962 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.62, for a total value of $2,178,766.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $200,227,500. This represents a 1.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 631,855 shares of company stock worth $101,967,913 over the last quarter. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.36.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $174.78 on Thursday. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $107.69 and a 52 week high of $180.38. 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 firm has a market cap of $54.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.54, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $165.19 and a 200-day moving average of $149.96.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

Ares Management 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.