Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $4.78 and traded as high as $5.23. Ares Commercial Real Estate shares last traded at $5.2250, with a volume of 864,763 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ACRE shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $4.75 to $5.50 in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.33.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $5.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.78. The stock has a market cap of $287.53 million, a PE ratio of -34.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.26.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.17. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative net margin of 13.02% and a negative return on equity of 5.15%. The company had revenue of $5.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.35 million. Analysts forecast that Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation 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 was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -400.00%.

Insider Activity at Ares Commercial Real Estate

In other Ares Commercial Real Estate news, CFO Jeffrey Michael Gonzales sold 6,218 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total value of $30,654.74. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $436,467.69. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Anton Feingold sold 7,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total value of $37,497.58. Following the sale, the vice president owned 92,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $457,277.22. This represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,585 shares of company stock worth $175,434. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,110,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,028,000 after acquiring an additional 74,453 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,315,902 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,935,000 after purchasing an additional 37,062 shares during the period. North Ground Capital bought a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 3rd quarter worth $5,222,000. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the third quarter valued at $2,679,000. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 24.4% during the third quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 564,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 110,505 shares during the period. 41.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.