Stephens Inc. AR Grows Position in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Key Points

• Stephens Inc. AR increased its stake in Ares Management by 3.9% in the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 59,413 shares, valued at approximately $10.29 million.
• Ares Management recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.1%, while the dividend payout ratio is notably high at 258.96%.
• The company's stock price has seen growth, currently pegged at $146.72, with analysts maintaining a positive outlook reflected by multiple upward revisions of price targets.

Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 59,413 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 2,256 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR's holdings in Ares Management were worth $10,290,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 60.3% during the second quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,475 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 2,059 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.8% during the second quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 22,452 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $4,054,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Cannon Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the second quarter valued at about $866,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the second quarter valued at about $204,000. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.6% during the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 54,265 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $9,399,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $146.72 on Tuesday. Ares Management Corporation has a one year low of $110.63 and a one 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. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $170.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 84.81, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.43.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 258.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total transaction of $24,946,933.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at $56,965,174.72. This trade represents a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $254,693,149.02. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock worth $464,430,639 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities upped their price target on Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Bank of America upped their price target on Ares Management from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Ares Management to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $181.31.

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.

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