Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Ares Commercial Real Estate has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 8.8% annually over the last three years. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a payout ratio of 161.3% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Ares Commercial Real Estate to earn ($0.32) 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 -312.5%.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

ACRE opened at $5.08 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $276.80 million, a P/E ratio of -4.30 and a beta of 1.50. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 1-year low of $5.01 and a 1-year high of $8.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Anton Feingold sold 7,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.68, for a total transaction of $43,253.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 78,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $445,084.80. This represents a 8.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Commercial Real Estate presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.60.

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.