Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Stock Price Down 7.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) dropped 7.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $156.44 and last traded at $157.63. Approximately 914,425 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 22% from the average daily volume of 1,166,112 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.76.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays cut their price target on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Down 5.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $184.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 5,443 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.14, for a total value of $980,502.02. Following the sale, the insider now owns 247,771 shares in the company, valued at $44,633,467.94. The trade was a 2.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ares Management by 104.8% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 170 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in Ares Management in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Ares Management in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors 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.