Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) have earned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.90.

ACRE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $7.50 to $7.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.00 to $6.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock opened at $5.64 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $307.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.78 and a beta of 1.51. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 12-month low of $5.33 and a 12-month high of $10.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 17.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -84.75%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACRE. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,272,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,907,000 after acquiring an additional 16,309 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,052,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,627,000 after purchasing an additional 23,845 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 861,390 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 187.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 415,332 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,907,000 after purchasing an additional 270,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 10.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 206,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after buying an additional 19,626 shares in the last quarter. 41.34% of the stock is 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.