In this series we look through the most recent Dividend Channel ”Dividend Rank” report, and then we select only those companies that have experienced insider buying in the last six months. A company’s officers and directors typically have a unique insider view of the company, and supposedly the only reason an insider would choose to use their hard-earned money to buy stock on the open market is that they expect to make money – maybe they think the stock is very undervalued, or maybe they see exciting progress within the company, or maybe both. So when stocks that are being bought by insiders pop up and are also at the top of the rankings, investors would be wise to take note. One such company is Ares Management Corp (symbol: ARES), which was bought by director Ashish Bhutani.
On August 15, Bhutani invested $980,800.00 in 10,000 shares of ARES, at a cost per share of $98.08. During trading on Friday, the shares changed hands at a price of just $114.01 per share, which is 16.2% above Bhutani’s purchase price. It should be noted that Bhutani has received $1.54/share in dividends since the time of their purchase, so on a total return basis they are currently up 17.8% from their purchase. Ares Management Corp shares are currently trading +2.41% on the day. The chart below shows the one-year performance of ARES stock, compared to its 200-day moving average:
Looking at the chart above, ARES’s 52-week low is $66.04 per share, with $117.33 as its 52-week high – that compares to a last trade of $117, 22. For comparison, below is a table showing the prices at which insider purchases have been recorded over the past six months:
| Purchased | Insider | Title | Shares | Price/share | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08/15/2023 | Ashish Bhutani | Director | 10,000 | $98.08 | $980,800.00 |
The DividendRank report noted that within the coverage universe, ARES stocks showed both attractive valuation metrics and strong profitability metrics. The report also cited strong quarterly dividend history at Ares Management Corp and favorable multi-year long-term growth rates across key fundamental data points.
The report stated: ”Dividend investors who approach investing from a value perspective are generally most interested in researching the strongest and most profitable companies, which also happen to trade at an attractive valuation. That’s what we try to find using our proprietary DividendRank formula, which ranks the coverage universe according to our various criteria for both profitability and valuation, to generate a list of the most ‘interesting’ stocks, aimed at investors as a source of ideas that deserve further research.”
The annualized dividend paid by Ares Management Corp is $3.08/share, currently paid in quarterly installments, and the most recent ex-dividend date was on 12/14/2023. Below is a long-term chart of ARES’s dividend history, which the report highlights is critical. Studying a company’s past dividend history can be a good help in assessing whether the most recent dividend is likely to continue.
The stocks with the highest dividend ranking for insider buying »
Also see:
• Institutional Holders of AGM
• KOSS Insider Purchase
• Institutional Holders of VRTB
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
