Amundi Purchases 131,482 Shares of Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 82.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 291,171 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 131,482 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $51,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ares Management in the 2nd quarter valued at $328,910,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 9.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,936,367 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,626,179,000 after buying an additional 1,746,376 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $596,280,000 after buying an additional 244,286 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Ares Management by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,208,292 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $177,148,000 after buying an additional 240,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 20,991.6% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 196,152 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $33,974,000 after acquiring an additional 195,222 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ARES shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $175.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Barclays lowered their target price on Ares Management from $200.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Oppenheimer set a $190.00 price target on Ares Management and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Ares Management in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $156.00 price objective for the company. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.46.

Ares Management Stock Up 7.6%

ARES opened at $176.73 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market cap of $57.77 billion, a PE ratio of 75.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.53. Ares Management Corporation has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.03 billion. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.72%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.8438 per share. This represents a $3.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 192.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 56,257 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.26, for a total value of $8,846,975.82. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 590,000 shares of company stock valued at $90,653,808 over the last ninety days. 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.