Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Hits New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low on Friday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $216.00 to $161.00. TD Cowen currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ares Management traded as low as $116.41 and last traded at $115.17, with a volume of 731902 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $130.59.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $187.00 to $156.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 4th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to a "market outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $166.07.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 4th quarter valued at about $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 4,557.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $230,981,000 after buying an additional 1,276,743 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,258,519,000 after buying an additional 807,361 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 7.5 %

The business's 50-day moving average is $162.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.77 billion, a PE ratio of 65.24, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. This is a boost from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management's payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

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.