Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Price Target Lowered to $7.50 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) had its price target trimmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $8.00 to $7.50 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

ACRE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Bank of America reissued an underperform rating and set a $7.00 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $10.50 to $8.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. TheStreet downgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a c- rating to a d+ rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Commercial Real Estate presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $8.79.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Price Performance

NYSE ACRE opened at $6.94 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.19. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 52-week low of $6.81 and a 52-week high of $11.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $377.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.64 and a beta of 1.41.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Cuts Dividend

The business 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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is presently -138.89%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Bryan Patrick Donohoe sold 18,868 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.32, for a total value of $194,717.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 197,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,037,312.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Anton Feingold sold 5,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.37, for a total value of $61,079.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $715,270.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Bryan Patrick Donohoe sold 18,868 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.32, for a total value of $194,717.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 197,414 shares in the company, valued at $2,037,312.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the first quarter valued at about $50,000. Mango Five Family Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 190.9% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 9,138 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 5,997 shares in the last quarter. 41.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.