Ares Management’s (ARES) Overweight Rating Reiterated at Barclays

Barclays reaffirmed their overweight rating on shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) in a research report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $224.00 price target on the asset manager’s stock.

ARES has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.08.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $193.70 on Monday. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $119.76 and a 12-month high of $197.53. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $180.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.64 billion, a PE ratio of 89.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 4.05 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total transaction of $3,364,874.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,495,125.76. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in Ares Management by 1,572.7% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.