Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target Raised to $176.00

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $172.00 to $176.00 in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.00.

Ares Management Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $172.49 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.99 billion, a PE ratio of 79.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 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 0.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $157.04 and a 200-day moving average of $146.19. Ares Management has a 52-week low of $101.44 and a 52-week high of $175.74.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $833.58 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.51% and a net margin of 12.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 27,120 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.67, for a total transaction of $3,950,570.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 222,880 shares in the company, valued at $32,466,929.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 75,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.05, for a total value of $10,728,750.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 622,640 shares of company stock worth $91,378,848 in the last three months. 41.89% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $2,705,000 after acquiring an additional 4,996 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its position 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 period. Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in Ares Management by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 39,000 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,186,000 after buying an additional 6,600 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its stake in Ares Management by 9,510.9% during the 1st quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 5,286 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $703,000 after buying an additional 5,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Ares Management in the first quarter worth $968,000. 50.03% of the stock is currently 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.