Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) PT Raised to $160.00 at UBS Group

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Free Report) had its price target lifted by UBS Group from $156.00 to $160.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the asset manager's stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of Ares Management in a report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price target on Ares Management from $157.00 to $153.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Ares Management from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $122.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Ares Management from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $126.17.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES traded down $2.73 on Friday, reaching $131.34. 976,755 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,022,465. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $40.66 billion, a PE ratio of 54.95, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.17. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $133.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.79. Ares Management has a 52-week low of $77.97 and a 52-week high of $139.48.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period last year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. This is a positive change from Ares Management's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Ares Management's payout ratio is 155.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.46, for a total transaction of $5,154,680.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 96,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,727,419.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 82,796 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.47, for a total value of $11,299,170.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,245,729 shares in the company, valued at $170,004,636.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Antony P. Ressler sold 38,915 shares of Ares Management 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 96,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,727,419.10. 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 90 days. Insiders own 47.34% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 73.9% in the 4th quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 240 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $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 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other 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.