Prospera Financial Services Inc Raises Stock Position in Ares Management Corporation $ARES

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) by 120.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,963 shares of the asset manager’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,439 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Ares Management were worth $1,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,534,773 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $565,180,000 after acquiring an additional 94,825 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,280,000 after purchasing an additional 244,286 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $413,516,000 after purchasing an additional 238,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the second quarter worth $328,910,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ARES. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $200.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Wolfe Research set a $210.00 price target on Ares Management and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Ares Management from $188.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.13.

Ares Management Stock Performance

ARES stock opened at $133.98 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Ares Management Corporation has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $195.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.79 billion, a PE ratio of 79.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.52.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted 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). Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 9.41%.The business had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a $1.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 265.09%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $126.61 per share, with a total value of $1,266,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 34,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,313,729.31. This trade represents a 41.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 186,197 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.75, for a total transaction of $28,441,591.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 290,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,449,791.75. This trade represents a 39.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 590,000 shares of company stock valued at $90,653,808. 36.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.