Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Receives $176.17 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $176.17.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $147.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.82, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $176.58 and its 200 day moving average is $170.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management has a 52-week low of $125.23 and a 52-week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $10,687,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1,693.9% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 36,076 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,387,000 after buying an additional 34,065 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $12,503,000. Virtue Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 1,609 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.