Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $4.75 to $5.50 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.33.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Price Performance

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock opened at $4.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $4.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.77. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a fifty-two week low of $3.35 and a fifty-two week high of $6.09. The firm has a market cap of $258.90 million, a P/E ratio of -31.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.26.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $5.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.35 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative return on equity of 5.15% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post -0.34 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 456.0% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 4,948 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 94.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 3,396 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 100.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the first quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 41.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Company Profile

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE: ACRE) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) primarily focused on commercial real estate debt investments. Externally managed by an affiliate of Ares Management Corporation, ACRE seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through its diversified portfolio of CRE financing strategies. The company specializes in originating, acquiring, financing and managing first mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity and other structured finance products.

Since its inception, Ares Commercial Real Estate has targeted a broad range of property types, including multifamily, office, industrial, retail and hospitality assets.