Ares Management Co. (ARES) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.12 on March 31st

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 1.12 per share by the asset manager on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This is a 20.4% increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93.

Ares Management has increased its dividend payment by an average of 25.5% annually over the last three years. Ares Management has a payout ratio of 67.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ares Management to earn $6.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 67.4%.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES opened at $144.10 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $178.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.82. Ares Management has a 1 year low of $125.23 and a 1 year high of $200.49. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $45.45 billion, a PE ratio of 70.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 69,809 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.01, for a total value of $11,239,947.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,861,052.91. The trade was a 69.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 218,268 shares of company stock valued at $37,431,786. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

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.