Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.3333.

ACRE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $4.75 to $5.50 in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 456.0% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 94.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 3,396 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 100.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 5,192 shares during the period. 41.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

Shares of ACRE opened at $5.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.78. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 52-week low of $3.35 and a 52-week high of $6.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $283.68 million, a PE ratio of -34.36 and a beta of 1.27.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $5.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.35 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative net margin of 13.02% and a negative return on equity of 5.15%. Equities research analysts predict that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post -0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.6%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio is -400.00%.

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.