The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock Price

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price target cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $188.00 to $166.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $215.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.38.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $117.54 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $37.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.21. Ares Management has a 12 month low of $113.24 and a 12 month 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.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were 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 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This trade represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in Ares Management by 31.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after acquiring an additional 5,404 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $126,622,000 after purchasing an additional 32,273 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 134.1% in the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,842,000 after buying an additional 5,900 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.