Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Decreases Stock Holdings in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its stake in Ares Management Corporation by 23.7%, selling 3,404 shares and ending up with a total of 10,960 shares valued at approximately $1.6 million.
• Various institutional investors have shown increased interest in Ares Management, with notable increases from IFP Advisors Inc (129.6%) and TCW Group Inc (99.5%) during the 1st quarter.
• Ares Management recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, which has a notable yield of 2.3%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 258.96%.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd reduced its position in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,960 shares of the asset manager's stock after selling 3,404 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 129.6% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,988 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,960 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 53,401 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,829,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 99.5% during the 1st quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 31,765 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,657,000 after purchasing an additional 15,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 1st quarter worth $667,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARES shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Ares Management to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.19.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ARES opened at $190.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm's 50-day moving average is $178.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.65. Ares Management Corporation has a twelve month low of $110.63 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.26, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.40.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 258.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 33,145 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.12, for a total transaction of $5,472,902.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total value of $14,347,150.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 531,329 shares of company stock worth $88,173,829. 36.86% of the stock is owned by company 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.

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