Brokerages Set Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) PT at $123.45

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $123.45.

ARES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $131.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $40.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management has a 1 year low of $77.97 and a 1 year high of $139.48. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $131.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.50.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.93 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 155.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total transaction of $11,299,170.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,245,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,004,636.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total value of $11,299,170.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,245,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,004,636.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 33,942 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.74, for a total value of $4,471,519.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 610,848 shares of company stock valued at $81,489,877. 47.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 68.0% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 6,485 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 2,624 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Ares Management by 172.3% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 32,899 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,690,000 after buying an additional 20,816 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the first quarter worth $684,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,191,021 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $502,895,000 after acquiring an additional 45,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 12.4% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 7,460 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.