Czech National Bank Buys New Shares in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Czech National Bank bought a new position in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 54,321 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $8,780,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 3.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,676,470 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,465,851,000 after purchasing an additional 740,103 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,243,194 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $678,448,000 after purchasing an additional 15,913 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,534,773 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $565,180,000 after purchasing an additional 94,825 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 10.2% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,586,253 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $413,516,000 after purchasing an additional 238,531 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the second quarter worth about $328,910,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Judy D. Olian purchased 480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $124.43 per share, with a total value of $59,726.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 29,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,699,801.62. This represents a 1.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $126.61 per share, for a total transaction of $1,266,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,729.31. This trade represents a 41.54% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 36.86% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of ARES stock opened at $106.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $125.81 and a 200 day moving average of $148.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $35.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.55. Ares Management Corporation has a twelve month low of $95.80 and a twelve month high of $195.26.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 19.04%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.1%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 319.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $157.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. UBS Group set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $182.00 to $155.00 in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $222.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.73.

Ares Management Company Profile

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a global alternative asset manager that provides investment solutions across credit, private equity and real estate. The firm originates and manages capital across a range of strategies including direct lending, syndicated and special situations credit, private equity buyouts and growth investments, and real estate equity and debt. Ares serves institutional investors, insurance companies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and high‑net‑worth clients through both commingled funds and bespoke managed account structures.

Within credit, Ares offers strategies spanning leveraged loans, structured credit, opportunistic and distressed debt, and specialty finance, with an emphasis on underwriting, portfolio construction and active asset management.