EntryPoint Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 2,144 Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,144 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $380,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $153.69 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $48.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.71, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $173.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.36. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors 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 2.92%. 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 (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.