Ares Management Corporation (ARES) Stock Price & How to Invest

Ares Management is one of the world's largest alternative investment managers, overseeing roughly $644 billion of assets under management as of early 2026 across four groups: credit (its dominant business at over 60% of AUM, spanning direct lending, high yield, and alternative credit), real assets (roughly 20% of AUM, including logistics, data centers, and infrastructure), private equity, and other alternatives. The firm earns most of its economics from recurring management fees on long-dated capital, supplemented by performance fees when funds hit return targets, and it distributes a large share of that cash to shareholders as dividends.

The investment picture is one of a fee-driven growth compounder riding the secular expansion of private credit. Management fees topped $1 billion in a single quarter for the first time in Q1 2026, fee-paying AUM rose about 19% year over year to roughly $400 billion, and the firm posted record first-quarter fundraising of about $30 billion. Second-quarter 2026 revenue of ~$1.16 billion rose ~9.6% year over year and EPS of $1.29 edged past a $1.27 consensus, after misses in the two prior quarters. The market has been less forgiving than the operating numbers: with private-credit vehicles under pressure across the industry, ARES closed at $113.54 on October 16, 2026, down ~31.7% year to date and ~19.6% over a year, within a 52-week range of $95.80 to $181.19, and Morgan Stanley and Rothschild & Co Redburn both trimmed targets in October. The trade-off is that results stay exposed to credit-market stress, slower fundraising, and pressure on the private-credit spreads that underpin its flagship business. Third-quarter results are scheduled for October 29, 2026.

Ares is heavily concentrated in credit, so a broad rise in defaults, spread compression, or a downturn in private-credit demand would pressure both fees and asset marks. Its trailing GAAP multiple is still ~52x even after the 2026 sell-off, and EPS missed estimates in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026 before a small beat in the second quarter. The stock's ~32% decline in 2026 shows how quickly sentiment on private credit can turn, with several brokers cutting price targets in October. The firm and its affiliated vehicles face periodic legal and regulatory scrutiny, including a shareholder derivative suit against its Ares Capital (ARCC) business development company alleging inflated marks and excessive fees, and a past SEC compliance fine. Rising rates or a recession could slow fundraising and reduce performance fees. Its non-traded retail credit funds also expose it to redemption and marketing risk if sentiment sours.

20 analysts publish price targets on ARES, averaging $145.70 against a $112.28 price as of October 2026, or +29.8%. The published targets run from $119.00 to $168.00, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 13 buy, 7 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 7 raises and 3 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full ARES forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on Ares Management Corporation. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Private credit leadership. Ares is one of the largest private credit managers globally, with its credit group representing over 60% of AUM. The most optimistic published target, $168.00, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. Ares is heavily concentrated in credit, so a broad rise in defaults, spread compression, or a downturn in private-credit demand would pressure both fees and asset marks. The most pessimistic target, $119.00, is roughly what ARES is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on ARES, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

No. Ares Management Corporation (ARES) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Ares Management Corporation's investor relations page or your broker.

• Market cap: ~$37.7B at $113.54 (Oct 16, 2026)
• Revenue (TTM): ~$5.25B; Q2 2026 ~$1.16B, up ~9.6% year over year
• Q2 2026 EPS: $1.29 vs $1.27 consensus
• Assets under management (Q1 2026): ~$644B, ~$400B fee-paying
• P/E: ~52x trailing GAAP, ~16x forward
• Dividend: $5.40 annual rate, yield ~4.7%
• Net income (TTM): ~$487M

After falling ~32% in 2026, ARES trades near 16x forward earnings against consensus EPS of ~$7.10 for 2027, a much lower forward multiple than earlier in the year, while the trailing GAAP P/E stays high because GAAP earnings understate fee-related earnings. The $5.40 annual dividend now yields ~4.7%. The mean analyst target is ~$145.70 across 20 analysts with a buy rating, and third-quarter results on October 29, 2026 carry a consensus of ~$1.26 of EPS on ~$1.24B of revenue.

Other names that sit close to ARES: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get ARES exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so ARES sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where ARES fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

ARES is a credit-heavy alternative asset manager whose appeal rests on durable fee growth and rising assets under management, offset by sensitivity to credit and fundraising cycles. After a ~32% fall in 2026 to $113.54 (October 16), the valuation is less rich on forward estimates (~16x) than it was, though still ~52x trailing GAAP earnings.

Whether ARES is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is ARES a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the ARES stock forecast.

For income investors, whether ARES pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does ARES pay a dividend? And to weigh ARES against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: ARES vs BX and ARES vs KKR.