Jackson Square Capital LLC Takes Position in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Key Points

• Jackson Square Capital LLC acquired 5,900 shares of Ares Management Corporation, valued at approximately $1,022,000, signaling continued interest from institutional investors, who currently own 50.03% of the stock.
• Ares Management's Chairman, Antony P. Ressler, sold 128,837 shares for over $22.9 million, with total insider sales exceeding $464 million in the last three months.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share and has a projected EPS of 5.28 for the current year, despite missing the last quarter's earnings expectations.

Jackson Square Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,900 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $1,022,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,189,991 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,813,445,000 after purchasing an additional 382,273 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,308,330 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,218,084,000 after acquiring an additional 30,451 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,354,032 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $491,735,000 after acquiring an additional 152,169 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,902,603 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $278,941,000 after acquiring an additional 5,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,727,563 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $253,278,000 after acquiring an additional 90,101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $35,078,061.63. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,424,538 shares in the company, valued at $254,693,149.02. The trade was a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total transaction of $24,946,933.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at $56,965,174.72. This represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock worth $464,430,639. 36.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ARES shares. Cfra Research upgraded Ares Management to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 14th. JMP Securities raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $182.73.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:ARES traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $182.99. 2,112,012 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,256,915. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.78, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.44. The business's fifty day moving average price is $182.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Ares Management Corporation has a twelve month low of $110.63 and a twelve month high of $200.49.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Ares Management's payout ratio is presently 258.96%.

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.