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Compare Stocks › ARES vs BRK-B

Ares Management Corporation (ARES) vs Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK-B)

ARES
Ares Management Corporation
$119.00
VS
BRK-B
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
$473.01

Rewards

ARES
  • ★Share count has been reduced by 33% over the past 5 years through buybacks, increasing each share's claim on earnings.
  • ★Insiders have bought $1.3M worth of stock in the past 3 months — significant skin in the game.
  • ★PEG ratio of 0.09 suggests the stock is undervalued relative to its growth rate — paying less than 1x for each unit of earnings growth.
BRK-B
  • ★Each dollar of retained earnings has created $3.95 of earning power — management is an exceptional capital allocator.
  • ★PEG ratio of 0.13 suggests the stock is undervalued relative to its growth rate — paying less than 1x for each unit of earnings growth.
  • ★Net debt/EBITDA of -2.3x means the company holds more cash than debt — a net cash position.

Risks

ARES
  • ⚠Net debt/EBITDA of 9.0x indicates heavy leverage — it would take over 4 years of EBITDA to pay off net debt.
  • ⚠Altman Z-Score of 1.36 places the company in the distress zone — financial patterns resemble those of companies that experienced bankruptcy.
BRK-B
  • ⚠FCF yield of 6.0% suggests reasonable valuation assuming continued moderate growth.
  • ⚠Trailing P/E of 15.2x is 72% above the historical average of 8.9x — the stock trades at a premium to its own history.

Key Valuation Metrics

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ARES
BRK-B
Valuation
N/A
Free Cash Flow
$61.23B
N/A
FCF Yield
6.00%
69.59
Trailing P/E
15.24
16.09
Forward P/E
21.95
Quality & Moat
3.74%
ROIC
4.96%
12.77%
ROE
9.18%
37.56%
Gross Margin
27.78%
0.09
PEG Ratio
0.13
Balance Sheet Safety
1.63
Debt / Equity
0.18
N/A
Interest Coverage
N/A
9.04
Net Debt / EBITDA
-2.28
4.54%
Dividend Yield
N/A
ARES: 4Ties: 1BRK-B: 4
ARESBRK-B

Historical Fundamentals

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ARES

Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation.

BRK-B

Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation.

Price ÷ Earnings Per Share — how many years of current earnings you're paying for at today's price. Lower P/E may indicate undervaluation.

$1 Retained Earnings Test

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ARES
N/A
Net losses over 3 years — test not applicable
Company had negative cumulative retained earnings
Σ Retained
$-2.63B
Δ Market Cap
+$23.73B
Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer
BRK-B
$1.66
created per $1 retained over 3 years
Value Creator
Σ Retained
$252.19B
Δ Market Cap
+$417.89B
Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer

Buffett's "$1 Test": For every $1 of earnings retained, has management created at least $1 of market value?
> $1 created per $1 retained = Value Creator · < $1 created = Value Destroyer

Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Analysis

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ARES
141.0% Overvalued
Price is 141.0% above estimated fair value
Current Price: $119.00
Fair Value: $49.38
Strongly undervalued
Undervalued
Fairly valued
Overvalued
Strongly overvalued
BRK-B
31.0% Margin of Safety
Price is 31.0% below estimated fair value
Current Price: $473.01
Fair Value: $685.41
Strongly undervalued
Undervalued
Fairly valued
Overvalued
Strongly overvalued

Reverse DCF — Market-Implied Growth

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ARES

Requires positive FCF to compute implied growth rate.

BRK-B

What growth rate is the market pricing in at $473?

-0.3%
Market-Implied Owner Earnings Growth
Standard FCF implies +1.0%

The market implies -0.3% Owner Earnings growth, above historical trends.

Standard FCF implies a demanding +1.0%, reflecting heavy growth investment.

Economic Moat Score

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ARES
47/100
Narrow Moat
70+ Wide · 40-69 Narrow · <40 None

Narrow moat with reinvestment efficiency as the key competitive advantage. Improving roic consistency would strengthen the moat.

Composite score measuring competitive advantage durability across four dimensions: returns above cost of capital, pricing power stability, revenue predictability, and capital efficiency. Based on 5 years of fundamental data.
BRK-B
40/100
Narrow Moat
70+ Wide · 40-69 Narrow · <40 None

Narrow moat with reinvestment efficiency as the key competitive advantage. Improving revenue predictability would strengthen the moat.

Composite score measuring competitive advantage durability across four dimensions: returns above cost of capital, pricing power stability, revenue predictability, and capital efficiency. Based on 5 years of fundamental data.

Forensic Accounting

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ARES
-2.63
Unlikely Manipulator
Above -1.78 = likely manipulator · -2.22 to -1.78 = grey zone

M-Score Trend

Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.
BRK-B
-2.41
Unlikely Manipulator
Above -1.78 = likely manipulator · -2.22 to -1.78 = grey zone

M-Score Trend

Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.

Beneish's 8-variable model estimates the probability of earnings manipulation. An M-Score above -1.78 signals elevated risk — companies in this range have historically been 3-5× more likely to be manipulating earnings. Scores between -2.22 and -1.78 fall in a grey zone warranting further investigation.

Ownership Breakdown

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ARES
Insiders 11.4%Institutions 88.5%Retail & Other 0.1%
No. of Institutional Holders1,139
High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders — a key signal in Buffett-style analysis. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.
BRK-B
Insiders 0.3%Institutions 66.2%Retail & Other 33.6%
No. of Institutional Holders5,818
High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders — a key signal in Buffett-style analysis. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.

High insider ownership aligns management incentives with shareholders. Institutional concentration can indicate smart-money conviction but also crowding risk.

Insider Buying Activity

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ARES
2
Buys (3M)
2
Buys (12M)
Total value (12M): $1.33M
OLIAN JUDY D.
Director
$59,726
@ $124.43 · 2026-02-20
BHUTANI ASHISH
Director
$1.27M
@ $126.61 · 2026-02-06
BHUTANI ASHISH
Director
$1.41M
@ $141.33 · 2025-03-11
Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises
BRK-B
0
Buys (3M)
0
Buys (12M)
No open market insider purchases found.
Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises

Open market purchases · includes direct & indirect ownership · excludes option exercises.

Insider Selling Activity

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ARES
1
Sells (3M)
4
Sells (12M)
Total value (12M): $7.85M
SAGATI AGHILI NASEEM
General Counsel
$529,032
@ $134.92 · 2026-02-04
SAGATI AGHILI NASEEM
General Counsel
$299,239
@ $161.84 · 2026-01-22
SAGATI AGHILI NASEEM
General Counsel
$3.28M
@ $155.97 · 2025-10-01
SAGATI AGHILI NASEEM
General Counsel
$3.75M
@ $178.40 · 2025-09-10
AROUGHETI MICHAEL J
Chief Executive Officer
$16.98M
@ $153.17 · 2025-03-24
DEVEER ROBERT KIPP III
President
$15.00M
@ $190.02 · 2025-02-06
BERRY RYAN
Officer
$2.62M
@ $180.16 · 2024-12-11
DEVEER ROBERT KIPP III
Officer and Director
$53.15M
@ $177.16 · 2024-12-10
BERRY RYAN
Officer
$980,502
@ $180.14 · 2024-12-09
BERRY RYAN
Officer
$292,425
@ $175.00 · 2024-11-11
BERRY RYAN
Officer
$3.21M
@ $175.18 · 2024-11-06
BERRY RYAN
Officer
$6.72M
@ $167.99 · 2024-10-17
BERRY RYAN
Officer
$3.20M
@ $160.07 · 2024-10-04
BERRY RYAN
Officer
$7.66M
@ $153.30 · 2024-09-19
BERRY RYAN
Officer
$4.77M
@ $146.67 · 2024-09-16
BERRY RYAN
Officer
$9.51M
@ $140.95 · 2024-09-09
DEVEER ROBERT KIPP III
Officer and Director
$6.26M
@ $150.21 · 2024-07-22
OLIAN JUDY D.
Director
$457,865
@ $134.00 · 2024-06-07
Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives
BRK-B
0
Sells (3M)
0
Sells (12M)
No open market insider sales found.
Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives

Direct ownership only · excludes indirect, option exercises, planned (10b5-1) sales & derivatives.

🎭 Mr. Market's Mood

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ARES
FearGreed
😨Fear(33/100)

"Market is pessimistic — investigate whether fears are temporary or structural"

Composite sentiment score based on 6 market signals. Inspired by Buffett's "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.
BRK-B
FearGreed
😐Neutral(52/100)

"Market is pricing this stock without strong emotion in either direction"

Composite sentiment score based on 6 market signals. Inspired by Buffett's "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.

Composite sentiment score based on market signals. Inspired by Buffett’s "Mr. Market" allegory — fear = potential opportunity, greed = potential risk. Must be used alongside fundamental analysis, not in isolation.

⚖️ Buffett Signal

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ARES
⚪Awaiting DCF Data

The Buffett Signal cross-references market sentiment with DCF valuation. Configure the DCF Analysis above to generate a signal.

DCF Margin of Safety: N/AMr. Market's Mood: Fear (33)
BRK-B
⚪Awaiting DCF Data

The Buffett Signal cross-references market sentiment with DCF valuation. Configure the DCF Analysis above to generate a signal.

DCF Margin of Safety: N/AMr. Market's Mood: Neutral (52)
View ARES Full AnalysisView BRK-B Full Analysis
ARES vs BRK-B: Which Is the Better Buy? | SafetyMargin.io