Guinness Asset Management LTD Sells 689 Shares of Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Guinness Asset Management LTD decreased its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 13.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,619 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 689 shares during the quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $677,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings 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 period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings 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 period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings 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 period. TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 1st quarter worth about $667,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total value of $24,946,933.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at $56,965,174.72. This represents a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $35,078,061.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 1,424,538 shares in the company, valued at $254,693,149.02. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,461,163 shares of company stock worth $441,459,002 over the last quarter. 36.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $184.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $60.30 billion, a PE ratio of 106.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.44. Ares Management Corporation has a 12 month low of $110.63 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $182.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $165.54.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released 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 firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 258.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Ares Management from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Cfra Research raised shares of Ares Management to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

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.