Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock Rating Upgraded by Oppenheimer

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) was upgraded by research analysts at Oppenheimer from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has a $159.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock. Oppenheimer’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 12.49% from the stock’s current price.

ARES has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.00.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES opened at $141.35 on Wednesday. Ares Management has a fifty-two week low of $110.63 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49. The firm has a market cap of $44.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $153.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.44.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ashish Bhutani purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $141.33 per share, for a total transaction of $1,413,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,237,163.65. The trade was a 77.49 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $126,622,000 after buying an additional 32,273 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. increased 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 valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $749,000. 50.03% of the stock is 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.