Atticus Wealth Management LLC Makes New $471,000 Investment in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Key Points

• Atticus Wealth Management LLC acquired 2,720 shares of Ares Management Corporation, investing approximately $471,000 in the asset manager during the second quarter.
• Leading analysts have recently set optimistic price targets for Ares Management, with Barclays raising its target from $182 to $200, while JMP Securities increased it from $195 to $205.
• Ares Management announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 2.5%, despite a high payout ratio of 258.96%.

Atticus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,720 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 9.1% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 746 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Ares Management by 5.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,344 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $197,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 9.5% during the first quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 865 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,360 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 4.2% in the first quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock traded down $0.43 on Friday, reaching $182.99. The company had a trading volume of 2,112,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,256,915. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.79 billion, a PE ratio of 105.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.44. 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 one year low of $110.63 and a one year high of $200.49. The business's 50-day moving average is $182.58 and its 200 day moving average is $166.11.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 258.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 1,424,538 shares in the company, valued at $254,693,149.02. This trade represents a 12.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $24,946,933.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 311,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,965,174.72. This trade represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock valued at $464,430,639. 36.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ARES. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Ares Management to a "moderate buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Ares Management 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.