Short Interest in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) Declines By 7.3%

Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) saw a significant drop in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,170,000 shares, a drop of 7.3% from the June 30th total of 3,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,280,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Ares Management Stock Down 3.5 %

ARES stock traded down $5.43 during trading on Thursday, reaching $147.77. The stock had a trading volume of 867,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,148,650. Ares Management has a 1-year low of $96.00 and a 1-year high of $155.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $45.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.78, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $140.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.01.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The asset manager reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.13). Ares Management had a return on equity of 21.22% and a net margin of 12.86%. The firm had revenue of $707.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $814.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Management will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ARES. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $150.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Ares Management in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Ares Management from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $176.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Ares Management from $160.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $168.00 to $158.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $134.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was 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 $161,475,750. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider David B. Kaplan sold 110,341 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.35, for a total value of $15,486,359.35. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 139,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,601,140.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 41,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.21, for a total transaction of $6,260,151.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $161,475,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 702,930 shares of company stock worth $97,948,044 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Management

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 49.2% in the 4th quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 19,949 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,372,000 after purchasing an additional 6,576 shares in the last quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,100,000. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,421,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,345 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $2,705,000 after buying an additional 4,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Management by 2,695.3% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 70,414 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $9,364,000 after buying an additional 67,895 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 50.03% of the company’s stock.

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.