Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target to $187.00

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $215.00 to $187.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $173.83.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $147.95 on Thursday. Ares Management has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day moving average is $175.33 and its 200 day moving average is $170.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.