Partners Group Holding AG Has $56.64 Million Stock Holdings in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Key Points

• Partners Group Holding AG increased its stake in Ares Management Corporation by 53.6% during Q1, now holding approximately 2.4% of the firm's shares, making it their 10th largest position.
• CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 150,000 shares of Ares Management, reducing his ownership by 58.25% and raising concerns about insider selling.
• Ares Management reported a quarterly EPS of $1.03, missing estimates, but Revenue was $1.35 billion, surpassing expectations and prompting an upcoming $1.12 quarterly dividend.

Partners Group Holding AG grew its stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 53.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 386,336 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 134,778 shares during the period. Ares Management makes up about 2.4% of Partners Group Holding AG's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Partners Group Holding AG owned 0.12% of Ares Management worth $56,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ares Management in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:ARES traded down $1.7890 on Wednesday, hitting $178.8010. The company had a trading volume of 1,450,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,632,787. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $179.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ares Management Corporation has a 1 year low of $110.63 and a 1 year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Ares Management's payout ratio is currently 258.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on ARES shares. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price target on shares of Ares Management and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer cut shares of Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Ares Management to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $180.06.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total value of $14,347,150.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible 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 directly owned 311,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at $56,965,174.72. This represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 458,917 shares of company stock worth $81,863,970 over the last ninety days. 0.52% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.