Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) CFO Jeffrey Michael Gonzales Sells 6,218 Shares

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) CFO Jeffrey Michael Gonzales sold 6,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total transaction of $30,654.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 88,533 shares in the company, valued at $436,467.69. This represents a 6.56% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of ACRE stock opened at $5.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $280.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.26. Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation has a 1-year low of $3.35 and a 1-year high of $6.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.77.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $5.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.35 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative return on equity of 5.15% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation will post -0.34 EPS for the current year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.8%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is presently -400.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACRE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $4.75 to $5.50 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Commercial Real Estate currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 376,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,699,000 after buying an additional 14,586 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the third quarter worth $2,679,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 163.4% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 44,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 27,665 shares during the period. 41.34% of the stock is currently 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.