Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Grows Stake in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,032 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,945 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $14,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,189,991 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,813,445,000 after acquiring an additional 382,273 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,308,330 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,218,084,000 after acquiring an additional 30,451 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 4.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,354,032 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $491,735,000 after acquiring an additional 152,169 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 0.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,902,603 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $278,941,000 after acquiring an additional 5,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,727,563 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $253,278,000 after acquiring an additional 90,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer set a $180.00 target price on Ares Management and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Ares Management from $178.00 to $175.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.93.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $35,078,061.63. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,424,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $254,693,149.02. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at $56,965,174.72. This trade represents a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,590,000 shares of company stock worth $464,430,639 over the last ninety days. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $149.42 on Monday. 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 has a market capitalization of $48.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.37, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $166.89 and its 200 day moving average is $168.14. Ares Management Corporation has a twelve month low of $110.63 and a twelve month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Ares Management had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 258.96%.

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.