Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Declares Dividend Increase - $1.12 Per Share

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of 1.12 per share by the asset manager on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93.

Ares Management has raised its dividend payment by an average of 25.5% per year over the last three years. Ares Management has a payout ratio of 67.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ares Management to earn $6.71 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 66.8%.

Ares Management Trading Down 0.2 %

Ares Management stock traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $189.90. 790,297 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,092,338. 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 firm has a market cap of $59.45 billion, a PE ratio of 93.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.88. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts expect that Ares Management will post 5.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total transaction of $3,364,874.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,495,125.76. This trade represents a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. This represents a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 633,100 shares of company stock valued at $111,492,196 in the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ARES. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.17.

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.