Vident Advisory LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Key Points

• Vident Advisory LLC has acquired a new stake in Ares Management Corporation, purchasing 2,090 shares valued at approximately $306,000 in the 1st quarter.
• Ares Management reported earnings of $1.03 per share, missing estimates of $1.15, while its quarterly revenue was $1.35 billion—exceeding expected figures of $1.02 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, representing an annualized yield of 2.5%, with a significant payout ratio of 258.96%.

Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,090 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Ares Management by 5.5% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,727,563 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $253,278,000 after purchasing an additional 90,101 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 991.1% during the first quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 84,339 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,365,000 after purchasing an additional 76,609 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the first quarter worth about $380,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the first quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the first quarter worth about $2,309,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Oppenheimer downgraded Ares Management from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ares Management in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $182.73.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $176.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $181.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $57.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.44. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman owned 1,424,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at $254,693,149.02. This trade represents a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total value of $24,946,933.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 311,728 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 2,274,422 shares of company stock valued at $408,064,869 in the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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