Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Rating Increased to Outperform 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 issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $202.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $166.00.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Management from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ares Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $176.00 to $212.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.33.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $176.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $171.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.05. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $112.83 and a 1-year high of $185.06. The firm 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management will post 4.06 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 15,763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,636,204.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 214,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,820,968.36. This represents a 6.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. This represents a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 634,167 shares of company stock worth $109,917,647 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 13.8% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $487,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,798 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 10,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,655,000 after acquiring an additional 3,715 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.