Analysts Set Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Price Target at $8.42

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) has been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $8.42.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $7.00 price target (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $10.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “c-” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock opened at $7.10 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $386.75 million, a PE ratio of -8.55 and a beta of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.15. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 1 year low of $6.36 and a 1 year high of $11.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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 disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.09%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is -120.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 1st quarter valued at about $84,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the first quarter valued at about $108,000. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the first quarter worth about $134,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 19,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares during the period. 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, 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.