Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $185.19 and last traded at $184.53, with a volume of 378573 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $179.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARES has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.92.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $60.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $176.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.59.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 171.43%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $292,425.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 253,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,312,450. This represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 574,167 shares of company stock worth $99,996,647 over the last three months. 41.89% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $106,436,000 after buying an additional 36,476 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 31.2% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,545,000 after acquiring an additional 5,404 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares during the period. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 134.1% during the fourth quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.