Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC Has $22.14 Million Stock Position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Key Points

• Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC increased its stake in Ares Management Corporation by 55.4%, bringing its holdings to approximately $22.14 million as of the last quarter.
• Ares Management reported earnings of $1.03 EPS, missing analyst expectations, with quarterly revenues reaching $1.35 billion.
• The company declared a dividend of $1.12 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.4%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 258.96%.

Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC grew its stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 55.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 151,005 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 53,810 shares during the quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $22,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 28,870 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $5,125,000 after buying an additional 4,842 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 170.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 27,346 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,807,000 after purchasing an additional 17,229 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth about $8,427,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,282 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $759,000 after purchasing an additional 594 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 81,365 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $14,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.8%

Ares Management stock opened at $188.53 on Friday. Ares Management Corporation has a 52 week low of $110.63 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 108.98, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.57.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted 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). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.47%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 258.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ARES. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ares Management in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Cfra Research raised Ares Management to a "moderate buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JMP Securities raised their price objective on Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 107,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total transaction of $17,344,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at $225,876,000. This trade represents a 7.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 33,145 shares of the firm's 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 873,145 shares of company stock worth $146,204,353 over the last three months. Insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

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.

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