Short Interest in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Expands By 14.0%

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,080,000 shares, an increase of 14.0% from the December 31st total of 3,580,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $198.19 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $62.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.16. Ares Management has a 12 month low of $119.76 and a 12 month high of $199.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The asset manager reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.01. Ares Management had a return on equity of 19.89% and a net margin of 12.51%. The company had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $833.58 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total transaction of $2,586,557.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,015,834.24. The trade was a 5.80 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Bennett Rosenthal sold 20,048 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.44, for a total transaction of $3,356,837.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 229,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,503,162.88. This represents a 8.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 574,167 shares of company stock valued at $99,996,647 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ares Management

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 67.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1,572.7% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ARES. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on Ares Management from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $212.00 to $207.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.08.

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.