Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Sets New 1-Year High at $155.65

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $155.65 and last traded at $155.06, with a volume of 368043 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $152.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. UBS Group cut their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $156.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.42.

Ares Management Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $138.90. The firm has a market cap of $47.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.52, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $788.68 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $860.09 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 12.53%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 166.82%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.42, for a total value of $1,855,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 414,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,475,860.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 12,500 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.42, for a total transaction of $1,855,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 414,202 shares in the company, valued at $61,475,860.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.94, for a total value of $19,791,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 866,816 shares of company stock valued at $122,071,500. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the second quarter worth about $923,000. Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $691,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in Ares Management by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 617,846 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $82,346,000 after purchasing an additional 12,007 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 33,106 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,412,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,094 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,078,000 after purchasing an additional 2,749 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.