Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Upgraded at Citizens Jmp

Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $165.00 target price on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on ARES. JMP Securities reaffirmed 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 upped their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Bank of America dropped their price target on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.07.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $135.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $159.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.11. The company has a market capitalization of $42.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.93, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. 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 twelve month low of $110.63 and a twelve month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 22,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This represents a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after purchasing an additional 907,757 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,753,779 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,903,741,000 after buying an additional 223,919 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ares Management by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,465,433,000 after acquiring an additional 33,700 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Ares Management by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,258,519,000 after acquiring an additional 807,361 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $907,534,000 after acquiring an additional 66,671 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.