Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Short Interest Down 16.4% in August

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,790,000 shares, a decline of 16.4% from the July 31st total of 2,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 523,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ACRE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. BTIG Research restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 19,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,933 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 386,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,001,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the fourth quarter worth $1,237,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the fourth quarter worth $676,000. 41.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The firm has a market cap of $384.82 million, a P/E ratio of -8.51 and a beta of 1.46. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a twelve month low of $6.36 and a twelve month high of $11.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $7.11 and its 200-day moving average is $7.14.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of ∞. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is currently -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.