Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $182.6667.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $180.00 to $173.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $157.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $182.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Ares Management from $222.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 6th.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARES opened at $111.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $150.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.77. The company has a market cap of $36.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.56. Ares Management has a 12 month low of $108.67 and a 12 month high of $195.26.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.71 by ($0.26). Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.04% and a net margin of 9.41%.The business had revenue of $1.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 5.28 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.8%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 265.09%.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, Director Judy D. Olian purchased 480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $124.43 per share, for a total transaction of $59,726.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 29,734 shares in the company, valued at $3,699,801.62. The trade was a 1.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ashish Bhutani acquired 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $126.61 per share, for a total transaction of $1,266,100.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 34,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,313,729.31. This represents a 41.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 34,036 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $5,895,000 after purchasing an additional 7,776 shares in the last quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 10.6% during the third quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 1,350,249 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $215,785,000 after buying an additional 129,368 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 2.8% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,534,773 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $565,180,000 after buying an additional 94,825 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC increased its holdings in Ares Management by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 4,388 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ares Management in the 2nd quarter worth about $161,774,000. Institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Management

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a global alternative asset manager that provides investment solutions across credit, private equity and real estate. The firm originates and manages capital across a range of strategies including direct lending, syndicated and special situations credit, private equity buyouts and growth investments, and real estate equity and debt. Ares serves institutional investors, insurance companies, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and high‑net‑worth clients through both commingled funds and bespoke managed account structures.

Within credit, Ares offers strategies spanning leveraged loans, structured credit, opportunistic and distressed debt, and specialty finance, with an emphasis on underwriting, portfolio construction and active asset management.