Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target Raised to $197.00 at Bank of America

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price objective upped by Bank of America from $196.00 to $197.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

ARES has been the subject of several other research reports. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Friday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $156.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Ares Management to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.81.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE ARES opened at $152.31 on Friday. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $110.63 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $49.76 billion, a PE ratio of 88.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.43. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.22.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%.The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 258.96%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 128,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.30, for a total transaction of $22,971,637.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock worth $464,430,639 in the last three months. 36.86% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 129.6% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,988 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 40.7% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,960 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Ares Management by 4.2% during the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 53,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $7,829,000 after acquiring an additional 2,171 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 99.5% during the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 31,765 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,657,000 after acquiring an additional 15,846 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new position in Ares Management during the first quarter valued at about $667,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.