Brokerages Set Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) PT at $166.36

Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $166.36.

ARES has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 18,329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.18, for a total transaction of $3,210,874.22. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 254,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,650,754.30. This represents a 6.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.74, for a total value of $2,826,505.88. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 81,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,928,054.38. This trade represents a 19.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 561,280 shares of company stock valued at $83,030,436. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 717.6% during the first quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 278 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 40.0% in the second quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the second quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the first quarter worth about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $168.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $52.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $159.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $147.42. Ares Management has a fifty-two week low of $101.44 and a fifty-two week high of $175.74.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

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.