Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $174.50.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. Oppenheimer upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $159.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $164.93 on Tuesday. 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 one year low of $110.63 and a one year high of $200.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $146.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.02 billion, a PE ratio of 81.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.00 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 263.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total transaction of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares in the company, valued at $4,861,052.91. This trade represents a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 250,180 shares of company stock worth $39,411,066. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 104.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.