Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $150.00 to $170.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Ares Management traded as high as $161.98 and last traded at $161.32, with a volume of 486676 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $157.81.

Several other analysts have also commented on ARES. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on Ares Management from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.82.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total transaction of $3,201,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 344,202 shares in the company, valued at $55,096,414.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total transaction of $3,201,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 344,202 shares in the company, valued at $55,096,414.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 624,316 shares of company stock worth $90,919,400 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 32.5% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,996 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 2,695.3% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 70,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,364,000 after purchasing an additional 67,895 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Ares Management by 17.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 397,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $52,831,000 after acquiring an additional 59,668 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management in the first quarter valued at about $3,434,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Ares Management by 24.6% in the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,674,000 after acquiring an additional 38,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.62, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.74.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 12.53%. The firm had revenue of $788.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $860.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 166.82%.

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.