Brokerages Set Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) Price Target at $5.33

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $5.3333.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ACRE. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE ACRE opened at $4.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.93. The company has a market cap of $263.28 million, a PE ratio of -237.75 and a beta of 1.20. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 12-month low of $3.35 and a 12-month high of $5.89.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio is -3,000.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ares Commercial Real Estate news, VP Anton Feingold sold 7,606 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total value of $37,497.58. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 92,754 shares in the company, valued at $457,277.22. This represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Michael Gonzales sold 6,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total value of $30,654.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 88,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $436,467.69. This trade represents a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 35,585 shares of company stock worth $175,434 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,950 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 2,284 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 9.0% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 41,019 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371 shares during the period. HRT Financial LP raised its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 36.0% during the fourth quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 16,790 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 4,445 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 232,262 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 4,936 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 456.0% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

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.