Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Given New $160.00 Price Target at UBS Group

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price objective boosted by UBS Group from $156.00 to $160.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the asset manager’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on ARES. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $112.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $119.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $126.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock opened at $129.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $40.04 billion, a PE ratio of 54.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.17. Ares Management has a one year low of $77.97 and a one year high of $139.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.18.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 13.06%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $862.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.88%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is 155.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total transaction of $601,436.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,263,750. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 114,492 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.97, for a total value of $15,109,509.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.01, for a total value of $601,436.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,263,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,300,871 shares of company stock valued at $173,683,187 over the last three months. Company insiders own 47.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARES. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 73.9% in the fourth quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.