Praxis Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 5,856 Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Praxis Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 5,856 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $936,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 2.0% in the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 3,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 10.3% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 630 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 1.3% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 4,576 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $793,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 746 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $173.99 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.24. The firm has a market cap of $56.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.67, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.22. Ares Management Corporation has a 52-week low of $110.63 and a 52-week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.72%.The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.8438 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 192.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 186,197 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.75, for a total transaction of $28,441,591.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 290,997 shares in the company, valued at $44,449,791.75. This trade represents a 39.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 590,000 shares of company stock valued at $90,653,808 over the last 90 days. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. UBS Group initiated coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $201.00 price objective on the stock. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.64.

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.