Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Receives "Market Perform" Rating from JMP Securities

JMP Securities restated their market perform rating on shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Ares Management from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $122.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $123.09.

Ares Management Price Performance

ARES traded down $1.38 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $133.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,808,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,013,585. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.19. Ares Management has a 1 year low of $77.97 and a 1 year high of $139.48. The company has a market cap of $41.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.98, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. This is an increase from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Ares Management's dividend payout ratio is presently 155.65%.

Insider Activity at Ares Management

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total transaction of $9,917,567.45. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $182,833,750. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total transaction of $9,917,567.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,833,750. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total value of $5,154,680.90. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 96,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,727,419.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 872,206 shares of company stock valued at $116,269,037. Company insiders own 47.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 149,920 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $17,829,000 after buying an additional 29,457 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,512 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $1,109,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position in Ares Management by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 125,000 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $12,859,000 after purchasing an additional 12,500 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 404.7% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,815 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $4,616,000 after purchasing an additional 31,124 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning purchased a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter worth $623,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.