Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Invests $2.31 Million in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec acquired 15,748 shares of Ares Management Corporation, valued at approximately $2.3 million in the first quarter.
• Barclays and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods have raised their price targets for Ares Management, with Barclays setting it at $200 and Keefe at $203, reflecting positive analyst outlook.
• Ares Management recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, translating to an annual yield of 2.5%.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 15,748 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $2,309,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ares Management by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 746 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC grew its holdings 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 during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 1.8% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 4,360 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 4.2% during the first quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,035 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, First Manhattan CO. LLC. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 17,628 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,121,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Ares Management from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price target on Ares Management and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:ARES traded down $0.50 on Tuesday, hitting $178.71. 821,997 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,619,767. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $181.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.45. The company has a market cap of $58.38 billion, a PE ratio of 103.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.44.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 44,760 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.19, for a total value of $7,975,784.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 108,374 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.72, for a total transaction of $19,585,349.28. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 1,144,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $206,830,064.16. The trade was a 8.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,530,522 shares of company stock valued at $275,565,856. 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.