Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.3333.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ACRE. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Monday. 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 report on Friday, November 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $4.75 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Price Performance

NYSE:ACRE opened at $5.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $283.68 million, a P/E ratio of -34.36 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $4.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.78. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a one year low of $3.35 and a one year high of $6.30.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.17. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative net margin of 13.02% and a negative return on equity of 5.15%. The company had revenue of $5.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.35 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.6%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio is -400.00%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ACRE. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 1st quarter worth $554,000. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 32.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 234,258 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 21.8% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 24,105 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 4,309 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 44.5% in the 2nd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 226,919 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 69,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 51.7% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 24,424 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 8,323 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Company Profile

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE: ACRE) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) primarily focused on commercial real estate debt investments. Externally managed by an affiliate of Ares Management Corporation, ACRE seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through its diversified portfolio of CRE financing strategies. The company specializes in originating, acquiring, financing and managing first mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity and other structured finance products.

Since its inception, Ares Commercial Real Estate has targeted a broad range of property types, including multifamily, office, industrial, retail and hospitality assets.