Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $180.91 and last traded at $180.69, with a volume of 293528 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $176.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $155.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.64.

Ares Management Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $169.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 4.06 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be paid a $0.93 dividend. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 20,048 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,356,837.12. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 229,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,503,162.88. This trade represents a 8.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total transaction of $980,502.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 247,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,633,467.94. This trade represents a 2.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 644,810 shares of company stock valued at $111,116,340 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $674,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,867,933 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 2nd quarter worth $209,884,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,526,856 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in Ares Management by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $376,191,000 after purchasing an additional 933,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 31.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $444,103,000 after purchasing an additional 678,549 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.