LGL Partners LLC Acquires New Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

LGL Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,183 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.6% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth $228,000. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,504 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1,085.0% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 46,892 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,308,000 after purchasing an additional 42,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 62.0% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 2,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ARES. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $980,502.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at $44,633,467.94. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 214,571 shares of company stock valued at $39,165,379 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $167.36 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $52.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.44, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $184.43 and a 200-day moving average of $169.15.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

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.