Analysts Set Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) PT at $176.17

Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $176.17.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ARES. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.6 %

ARES opened at $147.82 on Monday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $176.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.01. Ares Management has a twelve month low of $125.23 and a twelve month high of $200.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.82, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This is a positive change 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 3.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 218,268 shares of company stock worth $37,431,786 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,482,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Ares Management by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 704 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

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.