Banco BTG Pactual S.A. Makes New Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Banco BTG Pactual S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,910 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $1,415,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.83.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $155.92 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market capitalization of $49.18 billion, a PE ratio of 76.81, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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%. On average, 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 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

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.