Ares Management Corporation $ARES Shares Bought by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,279 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $6,283,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,189,991 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,813,445,000 after acquiring an additional 382,273 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 24.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,208,292 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $177,148,000 after acquiring an additional 240,564 shares during the period. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,350,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in Ares Management by 18.3% during the 1st quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 1,128,415 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $165,437,000 after purchasing an additional 174,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG grew its position in Ares Management by 53.6% during the first quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 386,336 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $56,641,000 after buying an additional 134,778 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,693,149.02. This trade represents a 12.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,965,174.72. This trade represents a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 2,533,796 shares of company stock valued at $453,825,507 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 36.86% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of ARES stock opened at $146.53 on Friday. Ares Management Corporation has a 1 year low of $110.63 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $168.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $47.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.45.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.03 billion. Ares Management had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 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 Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.8438 dividend. This represents a $3.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 192.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ARES. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Ares Management to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Ares Management from $188.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on Ares Management from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Ares Management from $175.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $187.46.

Ares Management Company 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.