Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Announces Dividend Increase – $1.12 Per Share

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of 1.12 per share by the asset manager on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93.

Ares Management has increased its dividend payment by an average of 25.5% annually over the last three years. Ares Management has a dividend payout ratio of 54.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ares Management to earn $5.56 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 66.9%.

Ares Management Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of ARES stock opened at $191.33 on Friday. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $125.23 and a 12-month high of $200.49. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $183.08 and a 200-day moving average of $165.17. The firm has a market cap of $59.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 88.17, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $292,425.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 253,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,312,450. The trade was a 0.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 229,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,495,125.76. The trade was a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 555,838 shares of company stock valued at $96,785,773. 41.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ARES. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $207.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.17.

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.