Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony P. Ressler Sells 48,572 Shares

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 48,572 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.69, for a total value of $6,445,018.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Ares Management Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Ares Management stock opened at $132.96 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $130.14 and its 200-day moving average is $116.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.16 billion, a PE ratio of 55.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Ares Management Co. has a 12-month low of $77.97 and a 12-month high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management Co. will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 155.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ARES. Barclays boosted their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $123.45.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,392,349 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,949,378,000 after buying an additional 631,334 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 7.3% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,389,511 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,097,379,000 after buying an additional 771,052 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 27.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,836,590 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,410,000 after buying an additional 1,255,866 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Ares Management by 269.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,113,862 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $489,222,000 after buying an additional 2,998,864 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,872,559 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $460,525,000 after buying an additional 71,819 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is 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.