Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.00.

ACRE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $10.25 to $8.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 26th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $10.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $9.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. TheStreet lowered shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $7.00 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, March 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Bryan Patrick Donohoe sold 18,868 shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.32, for a total value of $194,717.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 197,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,037,312.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ares Commercial Real Estate news, VP Anton Feingold sold 5,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.37, for a total transaction of $61,079.30. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,975 shares in the company, valued at $715,270.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Bryan Patrick Donohoe sold 18,868 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.32, for a total transaction of $194,717.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 197,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,037,312.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.95% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the second quarter valued at about $8,022,000. MGO One Seven LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2,609.3% during the 4th quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 570,331 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,909,000 after buying an additional 549,280 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 605.8% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 619,937 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,478,000 after acquiring an additional 532,103 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 62.3% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,145,612 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,414,000 after acquiring an additional 439,585 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 8.6% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,294,662 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,879,000 after acquiring an additional 339,231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Price Performance

ACRE stock opened at $7.24 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $7.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.21. The firm has a market cap of $394.02 million, a P/E ratio of -10.06 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 1 year low of $7.07 and a 1 year high of $11.24.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.81%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is -138.89%.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Company Profile

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.