Short Interest in Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Declines By 8.6%

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a decrease of 8.6% from the November 15th total of 1,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 441,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ACRE. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 10.5% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 206,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 19,626 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 15.5% during the second quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 85,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the second quarter worth about $68,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 26.9% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 524,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,489,000 after acquiring an additional 111,194 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.1% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 86,466 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,797 shares during the period. 41.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut Ares Commercial Real Estate from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $7.50 to $7.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.10.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ACRE stock opened at $7.19 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $392.16 million, a PE ratio of -6.09 and a beta of 1.48. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a fifty-two week low of $6.25 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio is presently -84.75%.

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.