Bayforest Capital Ltd Boosts Stake in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Key Points

• Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in Ares Management Corporation by 1,036.9%, acquiring an additional 3,318 shares during the 1st quarter, bringing its total to 3,638 shares worth $533,000.
• Ares Management declared a quarterly dividend of $1.12, with a resultant annualized dividend of $4.48 and a dividend yield of 2.6%, despite a high payout ratio of 258.96%.
• Ares Management reported earnings per share of $1.03 for the last quarter, missing estimates, but had a revenue of $1.35 billion, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion.

Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 1,036.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,638 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 3,318 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd's holdings in Ares Management were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,189,991 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,813,445,000 after buying an additional 382,273 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ares Management by 0.4% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,308,330 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,218,084,000 after buying an additional 30,451 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 4.8% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,354,032 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $491,735,000 after buying an additional 152,169 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 0.3% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,902,603 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $278,941,000 after buying an additional 5,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Ares Management by 5.5% during the first 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 last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $35,078,061.63. Following the completion of 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 link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was 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 approximately $56,965,174.72. This represents a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock valued at $464,430,639. Insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 1.0%

ARES traded down $1.76 on Friday, hitting $182.95. 837,086 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,340,234. Ares Management Corporation has a twelve month low of $110.63 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The company has a market cap of $59.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 105.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $182.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.63.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is currently 258.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Barclays raised their target price on Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $182.73.

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.