Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Trading Down 7.1% - Time to Sell?

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) shares dropped 7.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $156.44 and last traded at $157.63. Approximately 914,425 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average daily volume of 1,166,112 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $176.17.

Remove Ads

Ares Management Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $48.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $182.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Ares Management's payout ratio is presently 183.25%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $980,502.02. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 238,068 shares of company stock worth $40,998,846. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,258,519,000 after buying an additional 807,361 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

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.