Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $187.4615.

A number of analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Ares Management from $175.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Ares Management in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $156.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer set a $190.00 target price on Ares Management and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ares Management from $200.00 to $187.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $35,078,061.63. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 1,424,538 shares in the company, valued at $254,693,149.02. This represents a 12.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,778,017 shares of company stock worth $316,832,014. 36.86% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its holdings in Ares Management by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 1,745 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.0% in the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 3,083 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $534,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 10.3% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 630 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 4,576 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $793,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 9.1% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 746 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $147.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $48.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $154.85 and its 200-day moving average is $168.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Ares Management has a 12 month low of $110.63 and a 12 month high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 31st. The asset manager reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.03 billion. Ares Management had a net margin of 9.47% and a return on equity of 15.81%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.8438 dividend. This represents a $3.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 192.27%.

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.