Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Receives $7.10 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) have been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the seven analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and five have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.10.

ACRE has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $7.50 to $7.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,783,379 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $20,736,000 after acquiring an additional 34,611 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 790,404 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,889,000 after buying an additional 81,534 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 26.9% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 524,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,489,000 after buying an additional 111,194 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 67.8% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 257,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,916,000 after buying an additional 103,902 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 2nd 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. Institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

NYSE:ACRE opened at $6.42 on Friday. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 1 year low of $6.35 and a 1 year high of $11.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $6.95 and a 200-day moving average of $6.97. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $349.66 million, a P/E ratio of -7.73 and a beta of 1.45.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is -120.48%.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

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.