Western Financial Corp CA Buys 3,819 Shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Western Financial Corp CA grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 113.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,187 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,819 shares during the period. Western Financial Corp CA’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% during the fourth 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. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 125.6% during the first quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 264 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $168.93 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $162.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.66. Ares Management Corporation has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 99.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The firm had revenue of $951.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $914.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.65%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 263.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ARES. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Ares Management from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 57,208 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.55, for a total transaction of $9,699,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 532,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $90,334,883.60. The trade was a 9.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 626 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.07, for a total transaction of $103,333.82. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 61,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,213,541.18. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 873,145 shares of company stock worth $146,204,353. Company insiders own 36.86% of the company’s stock.

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.