Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group assumed coverage on Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $5.50 target price on the stock. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $5.50 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Commercial Real Estate has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $5.25.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock opened at $4.64 on Friday. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 12-month low of $4.05 and a 12-month high of $5.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.70 million, a P/E ratio of -12.90 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.91.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $13.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.63 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative net margin of 37.21% and a negative return on equity of 2.80%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio is -166.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alpine Global Management LLC boosted its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC now owns 759,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 165,193 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 102.1% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 12,194 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 6,161 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the first quarter worth $47,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 100.3% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 167,990 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 9,018 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

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.