Ares Management Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:ARES)

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 71,530 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 2,691% compared to the average daily volume of 2,563 call options.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 56,257 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.26, for a total transaction of $8,846,975.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 590,000 shares of company stock valued at $90,653,808. 36.86% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Ares Management by 1,903.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 60,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,708,000 after acquiring an additional 57,687 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 13.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,633 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 795 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.5% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 19,707 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 8.2% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,007,852 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $161,145,000 after purchasing an additional 76,073 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,237,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $168.32 on Thursday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $55.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.53. Ares Management has a 12 month low of $110.63 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $154.33 and a 200-day moving average of $168.35.

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

Ares Management Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 192.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ARES shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Monday. UBS Group initiated coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $201.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer set a $190.00 price objective on Ares Management and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $175.00 to $197.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $196.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.64.

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.