Antony Ressler Sells 101,400 Shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony Ressler sold 101,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.53, for a total transaction of $17,798,742.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 128,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,614,758.61. This represents a 44.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $178.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $58.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 103.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $181.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Ares Management Corporation has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%.The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management Corporation will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 258.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ARES. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $182.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at about $291,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at about $525,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management during the 2nd quarter valued at about $359,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Ares Management by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,201 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 3,250.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 70,030 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,129,000 after acquiring an additional 67,940 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.