Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Short Interest Update

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) saw a large growth in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,110,000 shares, a growth of 12.3% from the March 31st total of 2,770,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $156.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $122.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ares Management from $109.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Management presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.17.

Ares Management Price Performance

Ares Management stock traded down $1.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $131.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,216,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,009,684. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $133.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.24. Ares Management has a 52 week low of $77.97 and a 52 week high of $139.48. 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 $40.77 billion, a PE ratio of 55.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.17.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The asset manager reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.11. Ares Management had a net margin of 13.06% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $862.71 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Management will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. This is an increase from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio is currently 155.65%.

Insider Activity

In other Ares Management news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total value of $9,917,567.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at $182,833,750. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 4,488 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,375,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,263,750. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 74,585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.97, for a total value of $9,917,567.45. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,375,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $182,833,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,494,440 shares of company stock worth $199,049,946 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 41.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in shares of Ares Management by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 149,920 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $17,829,000 after purchasing an additional 29,457 shares during the last quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Triasima Portfolio Management inc. now owns 66,950 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,962,000 after acquiring an additional 16,010 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 2.0% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 10,512 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,268,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ares Management by 178.6% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 32,339 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,846,000 after purchasing an additional 20,730 shares during the period. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.