Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the thirteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $172.33.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ares Management from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $176.00 to $212.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target 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.

Ares Management Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Ares Management stock traded down $1.99 on Wednesday, reaching $177.03. 591,579 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,150,383. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Ares Management has a fifty-two week low of $112.83 and a fifty-two week high of $185.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $173.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.42.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ares Management will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. Ares Management's payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,775 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total transaction of $3,311,323.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 230,225 shares in the company, valued at $38,551,176.25. This represents a 7.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,015,834.24. This represents a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 634,167 shares of company stock valued at $109,917,647 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at $39,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 559 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 2nd quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $93,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company's stock.

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.