Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Price Target Cut to $5.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) had its price objective lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $5.50 to $5.00 in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $5.50 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.25.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of ACRE opened at $4.62 on Friday. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 1-year low of $4.05 and a 1-year high of $5.89. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $4.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $256.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.82 and a beta of 1.15.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $13.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.63 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative return on equity of 2.80% and a negative net margin of 37.21%. On average, research analysts forecast that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.0%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -166.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 456.0% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 4,948 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 603.3% in the first quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 6,513 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 5,587 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the first quarter worth $47,000. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. 41.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.