Ares Management Corporation $ARES Holdings Raised by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 26.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 57,677 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,954 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $9,222,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 100.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 190 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 182.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 421 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 708.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 493 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 56,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.26, for a total value of $8,846,975.82. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $126.61 per share, with a total value of $1,266,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 34,071 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,313,729.31. The trade was a 41.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 590,000 shares of company stock worth $90,653,808. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $222.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $157.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Ares Management from $188.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $178.00 price target on Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.13.

Ares Management Stock Down 5.1%

ARES stock opened at $123.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $156.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.54. Ares Management Corporation has a 52-week low of $110.63 and a 52-week high of $195.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.22 and a quick ratio of 0.22.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.26). Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 9.41%.The business had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a $1.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 265.09%.

Ares Management Company Profile

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a global alternative asset manager that provides investment solutions across credit, private equity and real estate. The firm originates and manages capital across a range of strategies including direct lending, syndicated and special situations credit, private equity buyouts and growth investments, and real estate equity and debt. Ares serves institutional investors, insurance companies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and high‑net‑worth clients through both commingled funds and bespoke managed account structures.

Within credit, Ares offers strategies spanning leveraged loans, structured credit, opportunistic and distressed debt, and specialty finance, with an emphasis on underwriting, portfolio construction and active asset management.