Canton Hathaway LLC Grows Stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Canton Hathaway LLC increased its stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 9.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 865 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Ares Management by 104.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its position in Ares Management by 125.6% in the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 264 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $14,347,150.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 983,990 shares of company stock worth $163,182,482 over the last 90 days. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock opened at $165.93 on Friday. Ares Management Corporation has a 1 year low of $110.63 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The company has a market cap of $54.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.60, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $160.75 and a 200 day moving average of $166.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.07.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The company had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 263.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.94.

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.