Kestra Advisory Services LLC Purchases 1,885 Shares of Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Ares Management Corporation by 29.3% in Q1, owning 8,312 shares valued at approximately $1.22 million.
• Wall Street analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Ares Management, with a projected price target range lifting up to $215.00 from earlier estimates.
• Ares Management announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.5%, with a high payout ratio of 258.96%.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 29.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,312 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 1,885 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 129.6% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,988 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 40.7% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,960 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its position in Ares Management by 4.2% during the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 53,401 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,829,000 after purchasing an additional 2,171 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 99.5% during the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 31,765 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,657,000 after purchasing an additional 15,846 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new position in Ares Management during the first quarter worth $667,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock traded up $2.64 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $179.46. The company had a trading volume of 575,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,614,978. The company has a market capitalization of $58.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 103.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $181.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.62. Ares Management Corporation has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ARES. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the business'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 owned 1,424,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $254,693,149.02. The trade was a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the business'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. The trade was a 30.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,809,483 shares of company stock valued at $325,460,792. Insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

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.