Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Short Interest Up 7.5% in December

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,580,000 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the November 30th total of 3,330,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ARES shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $176.00 to $212.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.33.

Ares Management Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of ARES stock traded down $1.99 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $177.03. The stock had a trading volume of 591,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,150,383. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $112.83 and a 12-month high of $185.06. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $173.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $156.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a net margin of 12.51% and a return on equity of 19.89%. The firm had revenue of $1.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $833.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ares Management will post 4.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Ryan Berry sold 1,671 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $292,425.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 253,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,312,450. This trade represents a 0.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 20,096 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were 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. This represents a 8.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 634,167 shares of company stock worth $109,917,647 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,244,179 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,284,773,000 after buying an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Ares Management by 13.8% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,122 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management in the third quarter valued at about $487,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Ares Management by 0.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,678,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $600,830,000 after purchasing an additional 18,773 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Management by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 12,798 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.