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

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.25.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $5.50 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen lowered Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,284 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 41,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 3,371 shares in the last quarter. HRT Financial LP raised its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 16,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 4,445 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC raised its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 232,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,145,000 after acquiring an additional 4,936 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 456.0% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock opened at $4.51 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $250.49 million, a P/E ratio of -12.54 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $4.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.92. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 52-week low of $4.05 and a 52-week high of $5.89.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $13.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.3%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -166.67%.

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.