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

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, one has given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.3333.

A number of analysts have issued reports on ACRE shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $4.75 to $5.50 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Zacks Research raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 250,197 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,471.21. The trade was a 8.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Michael Gonzales sold 6,218 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total transaction of $30,654.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $436,467.69. The trade was a 6.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 35,585 shares of company stock valued at $175,434 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 456.0% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 94.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 3,396 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the third quarter valued at $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 100.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the first quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of ACRE opened at $4.82 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5.05 and its 200 day moving average is $4.77. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 12-month low of $3.35 and a 12-month high of $6.09. The company has a market capitalization of $264.97 million, a PE ratio of -32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.26.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.35 million. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.5%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -400.00%.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

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.