Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.42.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group decreased their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $10.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet lowered Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 27th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 price objective (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Monday, March 4th.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE ACRE opened at $6.65 on Monday. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a fifty-two week low of $6.36 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.08. The stock has a market cap of $362.49 million, a P/E ratio of -8.01 and a beta of 1.44.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.34). Ares Commercial Real Estate had a positive return on equity of 0.84% and a negative net margin of 54.60%. The firm had revenue of $18.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.77 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post -2.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 15.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is -120.48%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 1st quarter worth $84,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 1st quarter worth $108,000. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 1st quarter worth $134,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 19,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 2,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Company Profile

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation, a specialty finance company, originates and invests in commercial real estate (CRE) loans and related investments in the United States. It provides a range of financing solutions for the owners, operators, and sponsors of CRE properties. The company originates senior mortgage loans, subordinate debt and preferred equity products, mezzanine loans, and other CRE investments, including commercial mortgage-backed securities.