Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Rating Increased to Hold 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.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ACRE. Zacks Research raised shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $5.50 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $5.50 price objective on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $5.25.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE ACRE opened at $4.72 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.88. The company has a market cap of $262.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.06 and a beta of 1.15. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 12-month low of $4.14 and a 12-month high of $5.89.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $14.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.96 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative net margin of 8.04% and a positive return on equity of 4.08%. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.7%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is currently -750.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. raised its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 603.3% during the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 6,513 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 5,587 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. 41.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.