Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $174.94.

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $197.00 to $152.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wolfe Research set a $193.00 price objective on Ares Management and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 107,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.34, for a total value of $17,344,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,400,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $225,876,000. This represents a 7.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 85,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.79, for a total transaction of $14,347,150.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 873,145 shares of company stock valued at $146,204,353 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 36.86% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 2.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,189,991 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $2,813,445,000 after buying an additional 382,273 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,753,779 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $1,903,741,000 after acquiring an additional 223,919 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,308,330 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,218,084,000 after acquiring an additional 30,451 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,258,519,000 after purchasing an additional 807,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $907,534,000 after purchasing an additional 66,671 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

Ares Management Price Performance

NYSE ARES traded up $2.18 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.29. 1,591,507 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,415,927. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $166.50. The company has a market capitalization of $56.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 101.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.38.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.29% and a net margin of 9.73%. The firm had revenue of $951.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management's payout ratio is presently 263.53%.

Ares Management Company Profile

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.