Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $174.50.

A number of research firms have issued reports on ARES. Citizens Jmp raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $159.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ares Management from $156.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 250,180 shares of company stock valued at $39,411,066. Corporate insiders own 36.86% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elequin Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $172.28 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.53. Ares Management has a 52 week low of $110.63 and a 52 week high of $200.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $54.34 billion, a PE ratio of 84.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. The company had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $914.00 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 263.53%.

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.