Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Announces $0.93 Quarterly Dividend

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 0.93 per share by the asset manager on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th.

Ares Management has increased its dividend by an average of 24.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 6 consecutive years. Ares Management has a payout ratio of 60.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ares Management to earn $5.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 64.6%.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES stock traded down $2.70 on Friday, hitting $131.94. The company had a trading volume of 1,085,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,031,124. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Ares Management has a twelve month low of $77.97 and a twelve month high of $139.48. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $133.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.40. The firm has a market cap of $40.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $707.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.88 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ares Management will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total value of $9,917,567.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,833,750. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total value of $5,154,680.90. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 96,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,727,419.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total value of $9,917,567.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,833,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ares Management from $153.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.92.

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.