Barclays Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Ares Management (NYSE:ARES)

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Barclays in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $224.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 15.76% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on ARES. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.08.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $193.51 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management has a 52-week low of $119.76 and a 52-week high of $197.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $180.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 89.18, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ares Management will post 4.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at $223,916,778.46. The trade was a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 18,329 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total transaction of $3,210,874.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 254,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,650,754.30. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in Ares Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1,572.7% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. 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.