Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Given “Market Perform” Rating at JMP Securities

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

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on ARES. StockNews.com cut shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. 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 report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES traded up $1.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $191.03. 245,973 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,042,386. The stock has a market cap of $59.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.06, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 20,048 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total transaction of $3,356,837.12. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 229,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,503,162.88. The trade was a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total value of $3,364,874.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 229,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,495,125.76. This trade represents a 8.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 555,838 shares of company stock valued at $96,785,773. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ares Management by 6.5% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 65,417 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $10,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 5.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 682,985 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $106,436,000 after acquiring an additional 36,476 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Ares Management by 31.2% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 22,750 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after acquiring an additional 5,404 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Ares Management by 9.0% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,284,773,000 after acquiring an additional 679,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 134.1% in the 4th quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.