Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.12 EPS

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12), Zacks reports. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE ARES traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $190.95. 264,668 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,065,937. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $59.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.35.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ARES. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,364,874.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 229,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,495,125.76. This trade represents a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the sale, the insider now owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. This represents a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 555,838 shares of company stock worth $96,785,773. 41.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.