Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.93

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 2nd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of 0.93 per share by the asset manager on Monday, September 30th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th.

Ares Management has increased its dividend by an average of 24.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 6 years. Ares Management has a dividend payout ratio of 62.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Ares Management to earn $5.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 62.3%.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock traded down $9.90 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $139.26. 2,114,036 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,103,870. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.25. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $96.00 and a 1-year high of $155.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market cap of $43.15 billion, a PE ratio of 62.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.22.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.86% and a return on equity of 21.22%. The company had revenue of $788.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $860.09 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Judy D. Olian sold 3,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.00, for a total transaction of $457,878.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,659,808. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.41, for a total transaction of $14,041,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,061,500. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Judy D. Olian sold 3,417 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.00, for a total transaction of $457,878.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,659,808. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 702,930 shares of company stock valued at $97,948,044 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ARES shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $150.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $176.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $131.00 to $127.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.00.

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.