Ares Management Corporation $ARES Shares Acquired by IFM Investors Pty Ltd

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its stake in Ares Management Corporation by 25.9% in Q2, owning 40,373 shares valued at approximately $6.99 million at the end of the reporting period.
• Chairman Antony P. Ressler and CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold significant share amounts during August, resulting in a 12.11% and 30.46% decrease in their ownership, respectively.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Ares Management, with JMP Securities setting a target of $205.00 and Royal Bank Of Canada at $215.00, reflecting bullish sentiment for the stock.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 25.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,373 shares of the asset manager's stock after purchasing an additional 8,299 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Ares Management were worth $6,993,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 129.6% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,988 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,960 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 53,401 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,829,000 after acquiring an additional 2,171 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 99.5% during the 1st quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 31,765 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,657,000 after acquiring an additional 15,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 1st quarter worth about $667,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 128,837 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.30, for a total value of $22,971,637.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock valued at $464,430,639. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of ARES stock traded down $0.94 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $181.05. 560,068 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,593,637. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $182.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.41. Ares Management Corporation has a 52-week low of $110.63 and a 52-week high of $200.49.

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

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 258.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Ares Management Company 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.