Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Short Interest Up 35.2% in March

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,490,000 shares, an increase of 35.2% from the March 15th total of 4,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,800,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Ares Management from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, JMP Securities upgraded shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $165.00.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, Director Ashish Bhutani bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $141.33 per share, with a total value of $1,413,300.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,905 shares in the company, valued at $3,237,163.65. This trade represents a 77.49 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total transaction of $16,978,128.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $214,438,000. This represents a 7.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 329,113 shares of company stock worth $54,409,915 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $335,858,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Ares Management by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 715,258 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $126,622,000 after purchasing an additional 32,273 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 679,462 shares during the period. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 134.1% in the 4th quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 10,300 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the fourth quarter worth approximately $749,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

Ares Management Trading Up 1.3 %

ARES traded up $1.75 during trading on Friday, reaching $141.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,209,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,384,538. Ares Management has a 12-month low of $110.63 and a 12-month high of $200.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $152.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.41. 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 market cap of $44.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.63, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a return on equity of 16.64% and a net margin of 11.35%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $1.12 per share. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.17%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

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.