Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Earns Market Perform Rating from JMP Securities

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating restated by research analysts at JMP Securities in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

ARES has been the subject of several other reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of Ares Management stock traded up $1.38 on Thursday, reaching $191.03. 245,973 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,042,386. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $125.23 and a 1-year high of $200.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $183.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.17. The firm has a market cap of $59.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. As a group, research analysts expect that Ares Management will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 15,825 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,573.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 214,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,802,571.96. This represents a 6.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,015,834.24. This represents a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 555,838 shares of company stock valued at $96,785,773. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in Ares Management by 1.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,301,709 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $982,058,000 after buying an additional 63,851 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ares Management by 5.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,826,479 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $596,318,000 after buying an additional 187,184 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after buying an additional 18,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,201,863 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $566,826,000 after purchasing an additional 352,126 shares during 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.