Tower Wealth Partners Inc. Makes New $218,000 Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Tower Wealth Partners Inc. bought a new position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $218,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE ARES opened at $155.11 on Monday. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $125.23 and a one year high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $48.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.27.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 232,625 shares of company stock worth $40,018,344 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.