Maltese Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Maltese Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 25,000 shares during the quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the second quarter valued at about $328,910,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 9.1% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,936,367 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,626,179,000 after buying an additional 1,746,376 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 2nd quarter valued at about $161,774,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 487.4% during the 3rd 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. grew its position in Ares Management by 1,172.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 622,796 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $99,579,000 after acquiring an additional 573,870 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $126.61 per share, with a total value of $1,266,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,729.31. This represents a 41.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Judy D. Olian purchased 480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was acquired 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 owned 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $3,699,801.62. This represents a 1.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on ARES shares. UBS Group set a $148.00 price target on Ares Management in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.67.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $100.42 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22. Ares Management Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $95.80 and a fifty-two week high of $195.26. The firm has a market cap of $33.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $137.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $153.03.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.45 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $1.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.41% and a return on equity of 19.04%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.4%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 265.09%.

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.