Fifth Third Bancorp Trims Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Fifth Third Bancorp reduced its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 3.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,007 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 840 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $3,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 125.6% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer lowered Ares Management from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price target on Ares Management and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.94.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 62,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.36, for a total value of $10,585,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 62,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,585,000. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $14,347,150.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 983,990 shares of company stock worth $163,182,482 over the last quarter. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $166.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $157.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $167.09. Ares Management Co. has a 52-week low of $110.63 and a 52-week high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.38.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $951.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $914.00 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 263.53%.

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.