Bennett Rosenthal Sells 50,000 Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Stock

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.72, for a total transaction of $6,486,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $130.70 on Friday. Ares Management Co. has a fifty-two week low of $77.97 and a fifty-two week high of $139.48. The stock has a market cap of $40.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.69, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.54.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $862.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 155.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Ares Management by 269.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,113,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $489,222,000 after buying an additional 2,998,864 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $205,499,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,836,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $600,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,866 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth $93,682,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 216.3% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,253,644 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $149,083,000 after purchasing an additional 857,245 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARES. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays cut 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.17.

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.