Brokerages Set Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Price Target at $176.17

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $173.83.

Several analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note 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 target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.4 %

ARES stock opened at $147.95 on Monday. 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 has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $175.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.86. The firm has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.88, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. 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. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,861,052.91. This represents a 69.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786 over the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Ares Management by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,753,779 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,903,741,000 after buying an additional 223,919 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,465,433,000 after buying an additional 33,700 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,258,519,000 after buying an additional 807,361 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Ares Management by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $907,534,000 after buying an additional 66,671 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is 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.