Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $4.75 to $5.50 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Commercial Real Estate has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.33.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Up 2.7%

ACRE stock opened at $4.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $4.99 and a 200-day moving average of $4.77. The company has a market cap of $266.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.26, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.26. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 12-month low of $3.35 and a 12-month high of $6.09.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $5.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.35 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative return on equity of 5.15% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -400.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 456.0% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 4,948 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 94.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 3,396 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted 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 purchasing an additional 5,192 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the first quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Company Profile

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.