Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday.

ARES has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.64.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $171.08 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $171.57 and a 200-day moving average of $153.55. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $112.83 and a 12-month high of $185.06. The firm has a market cap of $53.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.84, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.83 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 171.43%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. This trade represents a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 634,167 shares of company stock worth $109,917,647. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $674,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,933 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management in the second quarter valued at approximately $209,884,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 722.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,738,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $231,660,000 after buying an additional 1,526,856 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its stake in Ares Management by 49.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $376,191,000 after acquiring an additional 933,664 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $444,103,000 after acquiring an additional 678,549 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.