Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 36,476 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $106,436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 24.6% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $25,674,000 after purchasing an additional 38,047 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 82,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,000,000 after purchasing an additional 26,012 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Ares Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $264,729,000. Retireful LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $696,000. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 36.7% during the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 53,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,104,000 after buying an additional 14,300 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $176.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.11, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $164.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.53. Ares Management Co. has a 1 year low of $107.69 and a 1 year high of $178.49.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 27,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.30, for a total value of $4,022,921.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,079,297.50. This trade represents a 49.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total transaction of $10,728,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 613,326 shares of company stock valued at $96,606,744 in the last ninety days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARES. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Six equities research 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.36.

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.