Brokerages Set Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Price Target at $166.07

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $166.07.

A number of research firms recently commented on ARES. JMP Securities raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut 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.

Ares Management Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $137.89 on Friday. Ares Management has a 1 year low of $110.63 and a 1 year high of $200.49. The company has a market capitalization of $43.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $157.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.06.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,482,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 704 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $496,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $416,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ares Management

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.