Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Invests $69,000 in Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 11,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $69,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,272,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,907,000 after buying an additional 16,309 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,052,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,627,000 after purchasing an additional 23,845 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 861,390 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 591,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,481,000 after purchasing an additional 96,551 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 545,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,216,000 after buying an additional 130,635 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ACRE shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.25 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Commercial Real Estate

In other news, VP Anton Feingold sold 7,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 78,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,084.80. This represents a 8.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock opened at $4.53 on Wednesday. Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. has a 12-month low of $4.48 and a 12-month high of $7.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $248.23 million, a P/E ratio of -6.96 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -92.31%.

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.