Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Hits New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $221.00 to $201.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Ares Management traded as low as $116.41 and last traded at $115.17, with a volume of 731902 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $130.59.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,438,000. The trade was a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915. 41.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the fourth quarter worth about $381,365,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Ares Management in the 4th quarter worth approximately $335,858,000. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 4,557.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,304,759 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $230,981,000 after acquiring an additional 1,276,743 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,329,530,000 after purchasing an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% in the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Down 10.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $37.07 billion, a PE ratio of 57.90, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $166.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.09. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $1.12 dividend. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

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.