Oppenheimer upgrades Ares Management to Outperform amid ‘attractive entry point’

As previously reported, Oppenheimer upgraded Ares Management (ARES) to Outperform from Perform with an $180 price target After the November 2024 election there was a kind of euphoria about financial stocks in general, but the Alt stocks in particular, drove their average relative multiple versus the S&P, to about 165% in January 2025, the firm notes. While Oppenheimer always thinks investors should maintain some exposure to the group, the firm was selective. The group then spent most of the intervening months till September at 140% relative price-to-earnings, which Oppenheimer viewed as relatively fairly priced. Meanwhile, a sharp selloff in the group was recently sparked, and the stocks are now at a 108% relative multiple on average, and the firm believes this marks an attractive entry point.