Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Now Covered by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

Key Points

• BMO Capital Markets has initiated coverage on Ares Management, assigning a "market perform" rating with a price target of $156.00, suggesting a potential upside of 3.49% from the current stock price.
• Ares Management reported earnings of $1.03 per share for the last quarter, missing analyst expectations, but achieved a revenue of $1.35 billion, surpassing estimates.
• Insider selling was significant, with chairman Antony P. Ressler selling over 196,000 shares, resulting in a 12.11% decrease in his ownership stake.

Stock analysts at BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a "market perform" rating and a $156.00 price target on the asset manager's stock. BMO Capital Markets' target price points to a potential upside of 3.49% from the stock's current price.

ARES has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ares Management in a report on Monday, July 28th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Ares Management from $193.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $189.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $181.06.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $150.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.17. Ares Management has a one year low of $110.63 and a one year high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.13, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.43.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 1st. The asset manager reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 15.81% and a net margin of 9.47%.The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 196,197 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.79, for a total transaction of $35,078,061.63. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 136,516 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.74, for a total transaction of $24,946,933.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 311,728 shares in the company, valued at $56,965,174.72. This represents a 30.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,590,000 shares of company stock valued at $464,430,639. 36.86% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,936,367 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $3,626,179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,746,376 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Ares Management by 0.4% in the first 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 7.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,083 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $596,280,000 after buying an additional 244,286 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Ares Management by 4.8% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,354,032 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $491,735,000 after purchasing an additional 152,169 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,902,603 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $278,941,000 after acquiring an additional 5,424 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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