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

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

Ares Management Stock Down 1.1 %

ARES opened at $177.03 on Thursday. Ares Management has a fifty-two week low of $112.83 and a fifty-two week high of $185.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The company has a fifty day moving average of $173.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $156.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.58, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19.

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

Ares Management Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ARES shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ares Management from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $176.00 to $212.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.33.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.99, for a total value of $6,719,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 304,202 shares in the company, valued at $51,102,893.98. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 115,838 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.83, for a total transaction of $20,599,471.54. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,259,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $223,916,778.46. This trade represents a 8.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 634,167 shares of company stock worth $109,917,647. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARES. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Ares Management by 58.5% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,058,394 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $674,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,867,933 shares in the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the second quarter worth about $209,884,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Management by 722.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,738,148 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $231,660,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,856 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 679,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ares Management by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,849,737 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $444,103,000 after acquiring an additional 678,549 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% 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.