Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $173.83.

ARES has been the topic of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $147.95 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.26. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Analysts expect that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 6.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 5.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $106,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,476 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 31.2% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 5,404 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at $335,858,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Company Profile

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.