Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Upgraded at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $202.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $166.00.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $176.00 to $212.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.33.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of ARES opened at $176.04 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $171.85 and its 200 day moving average is $154.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $112.83 and a 12-month high of $185.06. The company has a market capitalization of $55.11 billion, a PE ratio of 81.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ares Management will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. This represents a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 634,167 shares of company stock worth $109,917,647. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Key Financial Inc purchased a new position in Ares Management in the second quarter worth $53,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 80.4% during the second quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 2nd quarter worth $78,000. 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.