Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.10.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ACRE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Ares Commercial Real Estate from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $7.50 to $7.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Friday, July 19th. StockNews.com lowered Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACRE. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 57.3% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 31,267 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 11,388 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 8.8% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 58,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,714 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. raised its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 11.1% in the third quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 20,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the third quarter valued at $147,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 7.2% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 41,492 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 2,769 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACRE opened at $6.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $6.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $351.57 million, a PE ratio of -7.77 and a beta of 1.45. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 1 year low of $6.36 and a 1 year high of $11.24.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 15.50%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is -120.48%.

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.