Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $182.7333.

Several analysts have commented on ARES shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Cfra Research upgraded shares of Ares Management to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total transaction of $24,946,933.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 311,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,965,174.72. The trade was a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $35,078,061.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,424,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $254,693,149.02. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock worth $464,430,639 over the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,936,367 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,626,179,000 after acquiring an additional 1,746,376 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Ares Management by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,308,330 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,218,084,000 after acquiring an additional 30,451 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 7.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,280,000 after buying an additional 244,286 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,354,032 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $491,735,000 after acquiring an additional 152,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 0.3% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,902,603 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $278,941,000 after purchasing an additional 5,424 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $182.95 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.62. The stock has a market cap of $59.77 billion, a PE ratio of 105.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.44. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 258.96%.

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.