Royal Bank of Canada Raises Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target to $170.00

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price objective lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $150.00 to $170.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

ARES has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ares Management from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $155.82.

Ares Management Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $161.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $148.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.86. Ares Management has a fifty-two week low of $96.00 and a fifty-two week high of $162.37. The company has a market cap of $50.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.62, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $860.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 166.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total value of $6,260,151.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,475,750. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total value of $6,260,151.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $161,475,750. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 27,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total value of $3,958,145.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 222,828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,459,354.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 624,316 shares of company stock valued at $90,919,400. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Creative Planning raised its stake in Ares Management by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,957 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 56.7% in the 3rd quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,252 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter. Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth $164,000. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Ares Management by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 346,861 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $54,055,000 after acquiring an additional 2,606 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lion Street Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth $217,000. 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.