Barclays PLC Has $473,000 Position in Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE)

Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,556 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.15% of Ares Commercial Real Estate worth $473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ACRE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 187.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 415,332 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,907,000 after buying an additional 270,791 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 37,339 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 6,072 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 68,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 10,362 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 19.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 591,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,481,000 after purchasing an additional 96,551 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. now owns 96,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 4,369 shares in the last quarter. 41.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ACRE opened at $4.86 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $4.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. has a 52-week low of $3.35 and a 52-week high of $7.99. The company has a market capitalization of $266.61 million, a P/E ratio of -7.48 and a beta of 1.27.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.35%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -92.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ACRE. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $5.25 to $3.75 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $5.50 to $4.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Commercial Real Estate presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.19.

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.