Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Rating Increased to Outperform at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $202.00 price objective on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $166.00.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on ARES. Barclays upped their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.33.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $176.04 on Friday. Ares Management has a 52 week low of $112.83 and a 52 week high of $185.06. The firm has a market cap of $55.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The business’s fifty day moving average is $171.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.81.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.83 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total value of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares in the company, valued at $42,015,834.24. This trade represents a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 634,167 shares of company stock valued at $109,917,647. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $674,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,933 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $209,884,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 722.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,738,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $231,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,856 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 31.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $444,103,000 after acquiring an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Ares Management by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $308,754,000 after acquiring an additional 453,657 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

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.