National Bank of Canada FI Has $34.97 Million Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

National Bank of Canada FI decreased its stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 197,425 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 17,551 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.06% of Ares Management worth $34,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,482,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ares Management by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. Company insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Ares Management Trading Up 3.4 %

NYSE ARES opened at $154.45 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $169.49 and its 200-day moving average is $170.58. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $48.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.08, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $125.23 and a one year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $1.12 dividend. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.