Wedmont Private Capital Makes New Investment in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Key Points

• Wedmont Private Capital has acquired 1,423 shares of Ares Management Corporation valued at approximately $252,000, as reported in their 2nd quarter SEC filing.
• CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares for around $24.9 million, representing a 30.46% decrease in his ownership stake.
• Ares Management recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, yielding 2.4%, with an ex-dividend date set for September 16th.

Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,423 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ares Management in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Global Financial Private Client LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 125.6% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 264 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 3,262.5% in the 1st 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. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in Ares Management in the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 14th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Ares Management to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $182.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, 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 value of $24,946,933.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at $56,965,174.72. This represents a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total value of $35,078,061.63. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock valued at $464,430,639 in the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $182.99 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $182.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ares Management Corporation has a 12 month low of $110.63 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.79 billion, a PE ratio of 105.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.44.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 company 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 258.96%.

About Ares Management

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ARES? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.