Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) has been given an average rating of “Reduce” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.0833.

Several brokerages have commented on ACRE. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.50 to $4.75 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Price Performance

ACRE stock opened at $5.15 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $283.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.15 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $4.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.70. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 52-week low of $3.35 and a 52-week high of $7.37.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.17. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative return on equity of 5.44% and a negative net margin of 29.57%.The business had revenue of $5.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.35 million. Equities analysts expect that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post -0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is currently -400.00%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 1st quarter worth approximately $554,000. Delphi Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the first quarter valued at $995,000. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 32.1% in the first quarter. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 963,485 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,461,000 after purchasing an additional 234,258 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 18.0% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 34,472 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $160,000 after buying an additional 5,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Samalin Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 132.6% in the 1st quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 135,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $626,000 after buying an additional 77,026 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation, a specialty finance company, originates and invests in commercial real estate (CRE) loans and related investments in the United States. It provides a range of financing solutions for the owners, operators, and sponsors of CRE properties. The company originates senior mortgage loans, subordinate debt and preferred equity products, mezzanine loans, and other CRE investments, including commercial mortgage-backed securities.