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 on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.69, for a total transaction of $6,445,018.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ares Management Stock Performance

NYSE ARES traded down $0.32 on Thursday, hitting $132.96. The stock had a trading volume of 784,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 978,778. Ares Management Co. has a one year low of $77.97 and a one year high of $139.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $41.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $130.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.56.

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

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 155.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $123.45.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 631,334 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 771,052 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,255,866 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,998,864 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 71,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

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.