Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NYSE:ACRE)

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 16.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st.

Ares Commercial Real Estate has a payout ratio of 476.2% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Ares Commercial Real Estate to earn ($0.34) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -294.1%.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Down 1.8 %

ACRE opened at $6.11 on Friday. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 52 week low of $6.02 and a 52 week high of $10.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.98. The company has a market capitalization of $333.25 million, a PE ratio of -5.18 and a beta of 1.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACRE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $7.50 to $7.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.10.

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.