Prana Capital Management LP Invests $25.10 Million in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Prana Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 141,768 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $25,097,000. Ares Management makes up about 1.2% of Prana Capital Management LP's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Avalon Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in Ares Management by 43.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ARES. JMP Securities upped their target price on Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 target price on shares of Ares Management and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.50.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 685,180 shares of company stock worth $113,177,573. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES traded down $1.99 on Tuesday, hitting $166.65. 390,118 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,769,513. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.63 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The stock has a market cap of $54.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $148.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $951.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $914.00 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. Ares Management's payout ratio is currently 263.53%.

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.