Brokerages Set Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) Target Price at $5.38

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $5.3750.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ACRE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $5.50 price target for the company. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE ACRE opened at $4.70 on Tuesday. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 12-month low of $4.05 and a 12-month high of $5.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $260.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.04 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $4.72 and a 200 day moving average of $4.92.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.02). The business 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -166.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Attessa Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 2nd quarter valued at about $76,000. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its holdings 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 last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 31.5% in the first quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 112,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 27,000 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 5.7% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 167,990 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $806,000 after buying an additional 9,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 88.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 84,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 39,800 shares during the last quarter. 41.34% of the stock is currently 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.