DAVENPORT & Co LLC Grows Stock Position in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,929 shares of the asset manager’s stock after buying an additional 859 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ARES. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,189,991 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,813,445,000 after buying an additional 382,273 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,208,292 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $177,148,000 after purchasing an additional 240,564 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 1st quarter worth about $26,350,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,128,415 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $165,437,000 after purchasing an additional 174,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,354,032 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $491,735,000 after purchasing an additional 152,169 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ARES shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Cfra Research raised shares of Ares Management to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.00.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 128,837 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.30, for a total transaction of $22,971,637.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock worth $464,430,639. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ares Management Trading Down 4.4%

NYSE ARES opened at $140.84 on Friday. Ares Management Corporation has a 12 month low of $110.63 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $175.26 and a 200-day moving average of $167.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $46.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.43.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 258.96%.

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.