KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Increases Position in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Key Points

• KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS increased its stake in Ares Management Corporation by 5.8%, acquiring an additional 3,900 shares, bringing its total holdings to 70,800 shares valued at approximately $12.26 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded their price targets for Ares Management, with Royal Bank Of Canada setting a $215.00 target and JMP Securities predicting a target of $205.00.
• Ares Management recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, resulting in a dividend yield of approximately 3.0%, despite a high payout ratio of 258.96%.

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 70,800 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS's holdings in Ares Management were worth $12,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ARES. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ares Management in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 3,262.5% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 269 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the first quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the second quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, September 29th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 14th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $180.00.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $149.45 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $176.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Ares Management Corporation has a one year low of $110.63 and a one year high of $200.49. The firm has a market cap of $48.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.39, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.43.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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). Ares Management had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%.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 company earned $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 258.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $254,693,149.02. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $24,946,933.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 311,728 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,965,174.72. This trade represents a 30.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 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 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.

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