Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $136.00 to $162.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Ares Management traded as high as $161.98 and last traded at $161.32, with a volume of 486676 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $157.81.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $141.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ares Management from $156.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total transaction of $3,201,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 344,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,096,414.14. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total transaction of $3,201,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 344,202 shares in the company, valued at $55,096,414.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 624,316 shares of company stock valued at $90,919,400. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,100,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,705,000 after purchasing an additional 4,996 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in Ares Management by 2,695.3% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 70,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,364,000 after purchasing an additional 67,895 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Ares Management by 17.7% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 397,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $52,831,000 after buying an additional 59,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the first quarter worth $3,434,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Up 2.1 %

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 company has a market capitalization of $50.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $147.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $141.55.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $788.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $860.09 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 193.75%.

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.