Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $177.45 and last traded at $177.45, with a volume of 695 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $167.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ARES. Barclays boosted their target price 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. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $166.36.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $159.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $147.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.20. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 10,450 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.46, for a total value of $1,509,607.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 191,334 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,640,109.64. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ares Management news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 10,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.46, for a total value of $1,509,607.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 191,334 shares in the company, valued at $27,640,109.64. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 57,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.74, for a total value of $8,092,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 456,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,276,239.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 561,280 shares of company stock worth $83,030,436. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ares Management by 32.5% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,705,000 after buying an additional 4,996 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 192,634 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $25,674,000 after purchasing an additional 38,047 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 1st quarter worth about $968,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 45.9% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 82,717 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $11,000,000 after acquiring an additional 26,012 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ares Management in the 1st quarter valued at $264,729,000. 50.03% of the stock is 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.