Lion Street Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Lion Street Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,390 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,207,381,000 after purchasing an additional 206,996 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Ares Management by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $674,183,000 after buying an additional 1,867,933 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 49.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $376,191,000 after acquiring an additional 933,664 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 24.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $308,754,000 after acquiring an additional 453,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 38.5% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,171,188 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $289,376,000 after acquiring an additional 603,676 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Management from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.82.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $161.95 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $96.00 and a 12 month high of $162.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.80. The company has a market cap of $50.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.62, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $788.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $860.09 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 20.46%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 166.82%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total transaction of $3,201,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 344,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,096,414.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total transaction of $3,201,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 344,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,096,414.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 26,579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.66, for a total transaction of $3,791,760.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 75,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,699,500. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 624,316 shares of company stock worth $90,919,400 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Company 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.