Ares Management Corp (ARES) stock analysis
Ares Management Corp (ARES) clears 4 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 6 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 2 of 5 Lynch-style checks. A free-cash-flow DCF does not fit financial services companies, so no margin of safety is shown. Its earnings quality rates Mixed and it returns −2.7% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Ares Management do?
Ares Management is an alternative asset manager that runs credit, private equity, real estate and infrastructure funds for institutions and individuals.
What stands out about Ares Management?
- Misses 2 of the 8 value filters. It fails Trailing P/E < 25 (43.40) and PEG Ratio < 1.5 (2.92); the other 4 pass and 2 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- Strongest against peers: dividend yield. At 6.95% (peer median 1.56%) it ranks 2nd of 33 among financial services stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Weakest against peers: P/E ratio. At 43.4× (peer median 21.7×) it ranks 35th of 37 among financial services stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Earnings quality: Mixed · 1 flag. accruals −10.2% of assets · 397% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 15.6% of revenue. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025). See the Earnings Quality Screener.
How has Ares Management's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Ares Management undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) n/a (Financial Services)
- Wall St. analyst rating Buy · 3.96/5 26 analysts this month: 6 strong buy, 13 buy, 7 hold, 0 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub).
- Altman Z″-Score (bankruptcy risk) n/a (Financial Services)
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Mixed · 1 flag accruals −10.2% of assets · 397% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 15.6% of revenue. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) −2.7% net Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 0.0% + buybacks 0.0% − stock comp 2.7%, as a share of today's market cap. Stock comp outruns what comes back in cash. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) n/a (no current-assets line on its balance sheet)
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 2.92 · Well above fair P/E 43.4× ÷ 14.8% a year of growth behind it. 336th lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 0 of 4 · misses capital-light (n/a), real profit, cash back, price Capital-light growth: cannot be measured (no current-assets line on its balance sheet); Profit is real: not cleared (1 earnings-quality flag); Cash to owners: not cleared (−1.6% a year net); Fair price (PEG): not cleared (PEG 2.92, over 1.5). See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Munger's Inversion Check 1 flag
- Standing vs. sector peers 1 of 4 measures above the median Compared with the 39 other financial services stocks this site tracks: 1 in the top third, 2 in the bottom third.
- Dividend payout sustainability 2/6 flags
How does Ares Management compare with its peers?
1 of 4 measure sits above the median of the 39 other financial services stocks tracked here, 1 in the top third and 2 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 21.7× 43.4× ✕35th of 37
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 18% 15% –27th of 40
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 20.2% 10.6% ✕32nd of 40
- Dividend yieldamong dividend payers · peer median 1.56% 6.95% ✓2nd of 33
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and ARES doesn't clear enough of it yet. In its favor: ARES is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, converts sales into profit at healthy margins, has grown earnings per share at a solid clip over five years, is trading below what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth - his own "price is what you pay, value is what you get" test, not a fixed multiple ceiling, and trades at a reasonable multiple of owner earnings, his own term for the real cash a business could pay out. Where it comes up short: ARES carries more debt relative to equity than he typically tolerates, and doesn't cover its interest expense as comfortably as he'd want.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- Pretax margin > 15% ✓
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✓
- Interest coverage > 5x ✕
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✓
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✓
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and ARES falls short of his bar. In its favor: ARES is growing earnings 20-50% a year, his classic fast-grower zone, and is generating real cash to back up a fast grower's higher price tag. Where it comes up short: ARES doesn't clear the tighter PEG bar a fast grower needs to justify its pace, is leaning on more debt than he liked a growth story to carry, and is priced above what he'd pay even for a company growing this quickly.
- PEG < 1 (stricter for fast growers) ✕
- EPS growth 20%-50% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✕
- P/E < 40 ✕
- Price/FCF < 40 ✓
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does Ares Management pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $27.6B
- Trailing P/E < 25 43.40
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 2.92
- Price/Book < 8 6.96
- Price/Sales < 7 4.61
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% +6.3%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is Ares Management's margin of safety?
A standard free-cash-flow DCF doesn't fit how financial services companies report cash flow.
Where is Ares Management in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Ares Management?
15,483,969 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Ares Management? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case n/a (Financial Services)
- Short interest under 5% of float 7.8%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 4/6 passed
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Ares Management shareholders gained per year?
Not enough clean earnings history to compute this for ARES yet - a loss year in the window breaks the growth math rather than faking a number through it.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from ARES's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Ares Management's 10-year financials show?
From ARES's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
Frequently asked questions about Ares Management
What kind of company is Ares Management?
Ares Management is an alternative asset manager that runs credit, private equity, real estate and infrastructure funds for institutions and individuals. This site groups it with Financial Services stocks.
Why does Ares Management have no margin of safety on this site?
This site's DCF values a company from its free cash flow, and that does not fit financial companies, whose operating cash flow swings with client money, loans and trading rather than with what is left over for owners. So ARES gets no margin of safety; judge it on the other checks on this page, such as its filters, shareholder yield and ranking against its peers. The method is in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Ares Management pass?
ARES passes 4 of 8. It passes Market Cap > $25B ($27.6B), Price/Book < 8 (6.96), Price/Sales < 7 (4.61) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (+6.3%). It misses Trailing P/E < 25 (43.40) and PEG Ratio < 1.5 (2.92). vs 50-day MA (±12%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) were not evaluated, because the moving-average checks only run on stocks that clear the fundamentals first. The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
Are Ares Management's reported earnings reliable?
This site's earnings-quality check rates ARES Mixed · 1 flag. accruals −10.2% of assets · 397% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 15.6% of revenue. From the latest 10-K (year to Dec 2025). Concerns: stock-based compensation (flagged). The five checks are the Beneish M-score (manipulation risk), accruals, cash conversion, stock-based compensation and share dilution; the Earnings Quality Screener shows how each is graded.
How much cash does Ares Management return to shareholders?
ARES's net shareholder yield is −2.7%: the cash it returns through dividends and buybacks, minus stock-based compensation, as a share of its market value. Latest fiscal year (2025): dividends 0.0% + buybacks 0.0% − stock comp 2.7%, as a share of today's market cap. Stock comp outruns what comes back in cash. Its trailing dividend yield is 6.95%, paid out of 62% of its free cash flow; the dividend-sustainability check raises 2 of 6 flags (a risky earnings payout, high leverage and a yield far above its sector's). See Shareholder Yield Leaders and the Sustainable Dividend Screener.
When does Ares Management report earnings next?
Ares Management's next earnings report is expected on October 29, 2026 before the market opens, with analysts expecting earnings of $1.32 per share. Dates come from the Finnhub earnings calendar and can move. In its last 4 quarters it beat the estimate 1 time, by an average of −6.6%.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Ares Management's 10-K annual report for the year ended Dec 31, 2025, filed Feb 25, 2026 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Ares Management Corp analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Ares Management Corp (ARES) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.