Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Raises Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 23.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,267 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 6.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,195,000 after buying an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 5.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $106,436,000 after buying an additional 36,476 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Ares Management by 31.2% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $335,858,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total value of $11,192,990.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,906,009.26. This trade represents a 69.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Ares Management Stock Up 1.8 %

NYSE ARES opened at $145.58 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $180.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.05. 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 cap of $45.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

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.