Retirement Systems of Alabama Acquires New Position in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 43,826 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $7,084,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ARES. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $161,774,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Ares Management by 487.4% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 912,656 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $145,925,000 after buying an additional 757,293 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ares Management by 3.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,676,470 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,465,851,000 after buying an additional 740,103 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 573,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Munro Partners acquired a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter worth $58,218,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research set a $210.00 target price on Ares Management and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $140.00 to $112.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $157.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.73.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES stock opened at $102.29 on Friday. Ares Management Corporation has a 52-week low of $95.80 and a 52-week high of $195.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market cap of $33.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a fifty day moving average of $120.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $146.07.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.26). The business 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 last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.3%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 319.53%.

Insider Activity

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

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.