Brookwood Investment Group LLC Invests $415,000 in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES)

Key Points

• Brookwood Investment Group LLC has acquired 2,831 shares of Ares Management Corporation valued at approximately $415,000, marking a new position in the company during the first quarter.
• Ares Management's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $1.09 EPS against a consensus estimate of $0.94, with revenues reaching $951.96 million.
• The company recently declared a dividend of $1.12 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.41%, while its dividend payout ratio stands at 263.53%.

Brookwood Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,831 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $415,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the first quarter worth $685,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 50.8% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 2,989 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $438,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.9% during the first quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 2,011 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Mount Lucas Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the first quarter worth $446,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the first quarter worth $1,705,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. JMP Securities set a $195.00 price target on shares of Ares Management and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $177.50.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES traded down $0.98 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $186.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 316,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,658,581. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $172.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.43. Ares Management Corporation has a one year low of $110.63 and a one year high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.37.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.73% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The company had revenue of $951.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $914.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 263.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 107,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total transaction of $17,344,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $225,876,000. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 33,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.12, for a total transaction of $5,472,902.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 873,145 shares of company stock valued at $146,204,353. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

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.