Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.93

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 1st, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a dividend of 0.93 per share by the asset manager on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th.

Ares Management has raised its dividend payment by an average of 24.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 6 years. Ares Management has a dividend payout ratio of 65.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Ares Management to earn $5.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 65.0%.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock traded down $5.81 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $161.87. The stock had a trading volume of 2,488,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,151,557. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.31, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.22. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $101.44 and a 1-year high of $171.78. The stock's fifty day moving average is $155.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.45.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 12.53%. The company had revenue of $788.68 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $860.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Ares Management will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ares Management from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $159.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.99, for a total transaction of $6,719,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 304,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,102,893.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.99, for a total transaction of $6,719,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 304,202 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,102,893.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.74, for a total value of $2,826,505.88. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 81,287 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,928,054.38. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 622,640 shares of company stock valued at $91,378,848 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.20% 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.