Analysts Set Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) PT at $172.33

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $172.33.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ARES. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $178.63 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $174.69 and its 200 day moving average is $157.86. Ares Management has a 52 week low of $112.83 and a 52 week high of $185.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $55.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.32, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ares Management will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.99, for a total value of $6,719,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 304,202 shares in the company, valued at $51,102,893.98. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 614,167 shares of company stock worth $106,716,247 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 6.5% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $106,436,000 after buying an additional 36,476 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after buying an additional 5,404 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter worth $641,000. Institutional investors 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.