Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Receives $6.05 Average PT from Brokerages

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $5.81.

ACRE has been the subject of several recent research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Down 0.7 %

Ares Commercial Real Estate stock opened at $4.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 1-year low of $4.63 and a 1-year high of $7.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.75 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.28 and a beta of 1.50.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.67%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -92.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Anton Feingold sold 7,615 shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.68, for a total transaction of $43,253.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 78,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,084.80. The trade was a 8.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACRE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 187.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 415,332 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 270,791 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,272,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,907,000 after buying an additional 16,309 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 211.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 5,252 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,052,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,627,000 after acquiring an additional 23,845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 591,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,481,000 after acquiring an additional 96,551 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation, a specialty finance company, originates and invests in commercial real estate (CRE) loans and related investments in the United States. It provides a range of financing solutions for the owners, operators, and sponsors of CRE properties. The company originates senior mortgage loans, subordinate debt and preferred equity products, mezzanine loans, and other CRE investments, including commercial mortgage-backed securities.