Analysts Set Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Target Price at $176.17

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $176.17.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES stock opened at $168.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $52.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 83.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $184.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.15. Ares Management has a fifty-two week low of $125.23 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 183.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total transaction of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 247,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379 in the last three months. 41.89% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 4,557.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $230,981,000 after buying an additional 1,276,743 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,258,519,000 after acquiring an additional 807,361 shares during the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.