Short Interest in Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Rises By 7.8%

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,500,000 shares, an increase of 7.8% from the May 15th total of 2,320,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 580,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ACRE. StockNews.com cut Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.42.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of ACRE stock opened at $7.15 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $389.75 million, a P/E ratio of -8.61 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a fifty-two week low of $6.36 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24.

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

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.99%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio is currently -120.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 1st quarter worth about $84,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 1st quarter worth about $108,000. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 1st quarter worth about $134,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 20,178 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 2,626 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.