Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Acquires 21,200 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 54.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 59,822 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 21,200 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $10,709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $982,058,000 after buying an additional 63,851 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,318,000 after buying an additional 187,184 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $566,826,000 after buying an additional 352,126 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES opened at $144.10 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.82. The company has a market capitalization of $45.45 billion, a PE ratio of 70.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.11%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.17.

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.