Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ares Management from $172.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.64.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES opened at $182.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.10 billion, a PE ratio of 85.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $112.83 and a 1-year high of $185.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ares Management will post 4.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 253,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,312,450. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 19,775 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.45, for a total value of $3,311,323.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 230,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,551,176.25. This represents a 7.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 659,167 shares of company stock worth $113,702,897 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in Ares Management during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. West Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 40.0% in the second quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 350 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc bought a new position in Ares Management in the second quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 80.4% during the second quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 451 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% 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.