Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to Overweight Rating

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $212.00 price objective on the asset manager's stock, up from their prior price objective of $176.00.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ARES. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $169.64.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $182.66. 1,271,141 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,159,954. The company has a market cap of $57.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.19. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $169.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $152.17. Ares Management has a 52-week low of $112.03 and a 52-week high of $184.47.

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. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management's payout ratio is 171.43%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 15,763 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,636,204.12. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 214,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,820,968.36. The trade was a 6.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 644,810 shares of company stock valued at $111,116,340. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARES. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $329,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 33,991 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,530,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 22,818 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $3,041,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 369,160 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $49,202,000 after buying an additional 3,039 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 24.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $25,674,000 after buying an additional 38,047 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.