Ares Management Corporation $ARES Position Boosted by Saudi Central Bank

Saudi Central Bank boosted its holdings in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 83.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,690 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,686 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth about $396,165,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,489,004 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $883,716,000 after acquiring an additional 1,963,460 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 40,652.1% in the fourth quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 807,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $130,484,000 after acquiring an additional 805,319 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 487.4% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 912,656 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $145,925,000 after acquiring an additional 757,293 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 1,172.9% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 622,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $99,579,000 after purchasing an additional 573,870 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARES. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ares Management from $143.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ares Management from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $151.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $140.00 to $139.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $144.00 target price on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.47.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $138.35 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $132.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $122.36. Ares Management Corporation has a one year low of $95.80 and a one year high of $186.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $45.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.46, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 25.42%. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 247.71%.

Ares Management 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.