LRI Investments LLC Cuts Stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

LRI Investments LLC reduced its position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 7.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,599,176 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 223,389 shares during the period. Ares Management accounts for approximately 37.7% of LRI Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. LRI Investments LLC owned approximately 0.83% of Ares Management worth $439,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 40.9% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,298 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 667 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 7.4% in the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 711.1% in the 2nd quarter. M&G Plc now owns 1,015,009 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $134,996,000 after buying an additional 889,872 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 6.6% during the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 33,991 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,530,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.1% in the second quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,618 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,748,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $166.36.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ARES opened at $178.07 on Monday. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $107.82 and a 12-month high of $180.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $151.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.99, for a total transaction of $6,719,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 304,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,102,893.98. This represents a 11.62 % 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 29,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.15, for a total value of $5,127,198.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 598,530 shares of company stock valued at $100,265,260. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Ares Management

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.