Brokerages Set Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Price Target at $166.07

Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $165.40.

ARES has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America cut their price target on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE:ARES opened at $141.39 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $155.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 70.5% in the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 5,049 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 182.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,906 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,039,000 after purchasing an additional 8,978 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 1,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Paragon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.9% during the first quarter. Paragon Advisors LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,864,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 1.4% during the first quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 9,566 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.