Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Given New $5.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) had its price target lowered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $5.50 to $5.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.50% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ACRE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group started coverage on Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $5.50 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.25.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

Shares of ACRE stock opened at $4.70 on Friday. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 52 week low of $4.05 and a 52 week high of $5.89. The company has a market capitalization of $260.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.04 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.92.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $13.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.63 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative net margin of 37.21% and a negative return on equity of 2.80%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACRE. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 456.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 4,948 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 603.3% during the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 6,513 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 5,587 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the third quarter worth $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 100.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the first quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors 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.