JMP Securities Boosts Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target to $185.00

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price target raised by JMP Securities from $165.00 to $185.00 in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market outperform rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on ARES. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $142.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citizens Jmp raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $159.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Ares Management from $216.00 to $161.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.50.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $164.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.02 billion, a PE ratio of 81.25, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $146.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $167.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. Ares Management has a fifty-two week low of $110.63 and a fifty-two week high of $200.49.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The asset manager reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. The business had revenue of $951.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $914.00 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 263.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider David B. Kaplan sold 69,526 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.99, for a total transaction of $11,192,990.74. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,474 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,906,009.26. The trade was a 69.53 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 250,180 shares of company stock valued at $39,411,066. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 14,022 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,482,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in Ares Management by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 704 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,799 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ares Management by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 2,352 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ares Management by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 4,775 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 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.