Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) CEO Bryan Patrick Donohoe Sells 21,761 Shares

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) CEO Bryan Patrick Donohoe sold 21,761 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total value of $107,281.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 250,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,471.21. This trade represents a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

NYSE:ACRE opened at $5.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.77. Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation has a 52-week low of $3.35 and a 52-week high of $6.09. The company has a market cap of $280.10 million, a PE ratio of -33.93, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.8%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -400.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ACRE shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group boosted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $4.75 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Zacks Research raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. North Ground Capital bought a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,222,000. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the third quarter valued at about $2,679,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,685,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 564,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 110,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 302.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 122,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 92,002 shares during the period. 41.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.