Farther Finance Advisors LLC Acquires 11,801 Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) by 472.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,301 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 11,801 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate were worth $84,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 17.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,733 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 4.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 88,093 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 3,593 shares during the period. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. now owns 96,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 4,369 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 211.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 5,252 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 37,339 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 6,072 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group cut their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.25 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.81.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of ACRE opened at $4.88 on Friday. Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. has a one year low of $4.61 and a one year high of $7.99. The company has a market cap of $267.43 million, a P/E ratio of -7.50 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.26.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.31%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio is currently -92.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Commercial Real Estate

In other news, VP Anton Feingold sold 7,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.68, for a total transaction of $43,253.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 78,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,084.80. This represents a 8.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

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.