Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony P. Ressler Sells 114,492 Shares

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 114,492 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.97, for a total transaction of $15,109,509.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $131.34 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $40.66 billion, a PE ratio of 54.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $133.23 and a 200-day moving average of $118.79. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $77.97 and a one year high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued 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 return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 155.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hartford Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 280 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 13,420 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 17.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 647 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 73.9% in the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,831 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Management

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.