Dark Forest Capital Management LP Makes New $342,000 Investment in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $342,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,207,381,000 after acquiring an additional 206,996 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Ares Management by 58.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $674,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,933 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 49.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $376,191,000 after purchasing an additional 933,664 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 24.4% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $308,754,000 after buying an additional 453,657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 38.5% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,171,188 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $289,376,000 after buying an additional 603,676 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ARES. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $156.00 price target on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $141.42.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total transaction of $10,728,750.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total value of $8,092,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 456,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 604,316 shares of company stock valued at $87,718,000. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $156.91 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $48.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.36, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.04. Ares Management Co. has a 52 week low of $96.00 and a 52 week high of $159.95.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $788.68 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $860.09 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 12.53%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 166.82%.

About Ares Management

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.