Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) Short Interest Update

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 2,210,747 shares, an increase of 39.1% from the February 26th total of 1,589,689 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 446,658 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ACRE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Commercial Real Estate has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $5.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ares Commercial Real Estate news, CEO Bryan Patrick Donohoe sold 21,761 shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total transaction of $107,281.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 250,197 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,471.21. The trade was a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Michael Gonzales sold 6,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total transaction of $30,654.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,533 shares in the company, valued at $436,467.69. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 35,585 shares of company stock valued at $175,434 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ACRE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,110,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,028,000 after buying an additional 74,453 shares during the last quarter. North Ground Capital lifted its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 34.0% during the 4th quarter. North Ground Capital now owns 1,551,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,418,000 after buying an additional 393,943 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 37,062 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC increased its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC now owns 759,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after acquiring an additional 165,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 947.2% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 647,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,095,000 after acquiring an additional 585,711 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock opened at $4.87 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $269.38 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -243.25 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.93. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 1-year low of $3.35 and a 1-year high of $5.89.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.3%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is presently -3,000.00%.

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.