Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $166.36.

Ares Management Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of ARES traded up $6.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $182.45. 1,617,205 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,159,489. The firm has a market cap of $57.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.08, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $110.41 and a 12-month high of $183.87. 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's fifty day moving average price is $169.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $152.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management's payout ratio is 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $292,425.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 253,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,312,450. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 719,811 shares of company stock valued at $121,845,234. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $982,058,000 after acquiring an additional 63,851 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Ares Management by 58.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $674,183,000 after buying an additional 1,867,933 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Ares Management by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $596,318,000 after buying an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 0.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 6.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,950,451 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $459,580,000 after buying an additional 175,627 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.