Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The asset manager reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.01, FiscalAI reports. Ares Management had a return on equity of 22.14% and a net margin of 10.54%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Ares Management’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Here are the key takeaways from Ares Management’s conference call:

• Record fundraising and strong earnings growth: Ares raised approximately $36 billion in the second quarter, lifting AUM and fee-paying AUM 17% year over year. Fee-related earnings rose 20% and realized income increased 31%.
• Significant future fee visibility: The firm ended the quarter with approximately $170 billion of dry powder and $114 billion of AUM not yet paying fees, which management estimates could generate roughly $828 million in incremental annual management fees if deployed.
• Investment activity and pipelines are improving: Firm-wide deployment increased to approximately $36 billion, while the forward pipeline reached a record level, up nearly 20% sequentially. Management expects stronger second-half activity, particularly in U.S. and European direct lending, infrastructure, and digital infrastructure.
• Outlook and shareholder returns remain favorable: Management reaffirmed its 2026 financial objectives, including 16%–20% FRE growth and more than 20% realized-income and dividend growth, while raising the quarterly dividend by more than 20% year over year.
• Wealth-channel redemptions remain a risk: Although redemptions from core U.S. individual investors declined, requests remain concentrated among non-U.S. family offices and smaller institutions, particularly in Asia. Ares expects the remaining redemption queue to take another two to three quarters to normalize and is considering new share-class restrictions.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $128.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.51. Ares Management has a 52 week low of $95.80 and a 52 week high of $195.26.

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 given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 247.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $190.00 to $160.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $144.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Ares Management from $165.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.93.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in Ares Management by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 5,481 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 74,810 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $12,092,000 after purchasing an additional 1,166 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,346,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,989,000. Finally, Cat Rock Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,897,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ares Management this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record fundraising supports future fee growth. Ares raised more than $36 billion during the second quarter as institutions continued allocating capital to private credit. Assets under management exceeded $671 billion at June 30, strengthening the company’s recurring management-fee base. Ares hauls record $36 billion on private credit fundraising momentum
• Positive Sentiment: Fee-related earnings and investment flows improved. Fee-related earnings reached $491.1 million, while after-tax realized income was $467.6 million, or $1.29 per share. The results indicate continued operating momentum despite mixed revenue performance. Ares Management Reports $150.6 Million Q2 Net Income
• Positive Sentiment: Earnings exceeded consensus and direct-lending activity remained robust. Second-quarter earnings of $1.29 per share were slightly above the $1.28 consensus and increased from $1.03 a year earlier. Ares also closed approximately $8.2 billion of U.S. direct-lending commitments across 69 transactions, bringing the 12-month total to about $52.3 billion. Ares Management Corporation Reports Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholder distributions were maintained. Ares declared a quarterly common-stock dividend of $1.35 per share, payable September 30, 2026, along with a dividend on its Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock. Ares Management Reports $150.6 Million Q2 Net Income
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue missed expectations, and private-credit losses could pressure sentiment. Analysts noted that quarterly revenue fell short of estimates even as earnings met or narrowly exceeded forecasts. Separately, reports highlighted rising defaults and an uptick in non-accruals at Ares-related private-credit funds, raising concerns about portfolio credit quality as the platform expands. Ares Private-Credit Fund Reports Rising Defaults, and New Deals

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.