Hilton Capital Management LLC Has $13.55 Million Stock Holdings in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Hilton Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,541 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 12,145 shares during the quarter. Ares Management makes up approximately 1.2% of Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Hilton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $13,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $444,103,000 after purchasing an additional 678,549 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 39.9% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 7,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after buying an additional 2,158 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $232,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $900,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 406,363 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $63,328,000 after buying an additional 10,942 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on ARES shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock opened at $139.77 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $179.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.85, a PEG 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 return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share 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 paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 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.