Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Raised to “Overweight” at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $212.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock, up from their previous price target of $176.00.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ARES. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.64.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $182.45 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.69. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $112.83 and a 12-month high of $185.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $57.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.08, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.42, for a total value of $1,855,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 414,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,475,860.84. This trade represents a 2.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 15,763 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total value of $2,636,204.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 214,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,820,968.36. This trade represents a 6.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 659,167 shares of company stock valued at $113,702,897 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 13.8% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Management in the third quarter valued at about $487,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Ares Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,798 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 10,620 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,655,000 after acquiring an additional 3,715 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.