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

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $155.82.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ARES shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $162.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total value of $8,092,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total value of $6,260,151.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,075,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $161,475,750. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total transaction of $8,092,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 456,702 shares in the company, valued at $64,276,239.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 624,316 shares of company stock worth $90,919,400. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $2,207,381,000 after buying an additional 206,996 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $674,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,933 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 49.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $376,191,000 after purchasing an additional 933,664 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 24.4% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $308,754,000 after purchasing an additional 453,657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 38.5% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,171,188 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $289,376,000 after purchasing an additional 603,676 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE:ARES traded up $1.24 on Friday, hitting $169.97. The company had a trading volume of 1,121,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,149,396. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.22, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $151.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.87. Ares Management has a 52 week low of $96.00 and a 52 week high of $171.14.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.53% and a return on equity of 20.46%. The firm had revenue of $788.68 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $860.09 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Ares Management's payout ratio is 166.82%.

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.