Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Short Interest Down 7.7% in September

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,250,000 shares, a decline of 7.7% from the September 15th total of 3,520,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Ares Management Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARES opened at $168.73 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $150.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.61. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $96.00 and a 1-year high of $171.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $52.28 billion, a PE ratio of 75.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.22.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $788.68 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $860.09 million. Ares Management had a return on equity of 20.46% and a net margin of 12.53%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

Ares Management Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.93 per share. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 166.82%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, insider Ryan Berry sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total value of $3,201,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 344,202 shares in the company, valued at approximately $55,096,414.14. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total value of $6,260,151.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,075,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $161,475,750. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Ryan Berry sold 20,000 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.07, for a total value of $3,201,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 344,202 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,096,414.14. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 624,316 shares of company stock worth $90,919,400 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,599,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,207,381,000 after purchasing an additional 206,996 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 49.4% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,822,565 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $376,191,000 after purchasing an additional 933,664 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 24.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,316,584 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $308,754,000 after buying an additional 453,657 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 38.5% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,171,188 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $289,376,000 after buying an additional 603,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ARES. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ares Management from $136.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Ares Management in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $140.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ares Management from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Ares Management from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $155.82.

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.