Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) is Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Hamlin Capital Management LLC cut its stake in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,102,158 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 6,461 shares during the period. Ares Management comprises approximately 4.8% of Hamlin Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Hamlin Capital Management LLC owned about 0.35% of Ares Management worth $195,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 21.0% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,573.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 214,079 shares in the company, valued at $35,802,571.96. This trade represents a 6.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 18,329 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total transaction of $3,210,874.22. Following the sale, the insider now owns 254,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,650,754.30. The trade was a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647 over the last 90 days. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $171.92.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.0 %

Ares Management stock opened at $191.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $177.20 and a 200 day moving average of $160.50. The stock has a market cap of $60.01 billion, a PE ratio of 88.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $112.83 and a one year high of $192.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 171.43%.

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.