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

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, Zacks reports. Shareholders 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 is Friday, June 14th.

Ares Management has raised its dividend payment by an average of 24.4% per year 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. 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES traded down $2.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $131.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,085,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,031,124. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $133.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.85 billion, a PE ratio of 55.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management has a 52 week low of $77.97 and a 52 week high of $139.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ARES shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Ares Management from $153.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.92.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total value of $5,154,680.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,727,419.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 175,152 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.56, for a total transaction of $23,393,301.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total transaction of $5,154,680.90. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 96,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,727,419.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Company Profile

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.