Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE: ACRE) now carries a consensus analyst rating of "Reduce", with seven firms covering the stock split between three sells, three holds and one buy. The average 1-year price target is about $5.38.
• The company’s latest quarter showed mixed results: EPS of $0.06 missed estimates by $0.02, while revenue of $13.46 million came in above expectations. Analysts expect ACRE to post 0.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• ACRE also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, payable July 15, which annualizes to $0.60 and implies a 13.8% yield. However, the payout ratio is deeply negative, underscoring ongoing profitability pressure.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.3750.

ACRE has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen cut Ares Commercial Real Estate from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

ACRE opened at $4.34 on Tuesday. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a one year low of $4.05 and a one year high of $5.89. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $4.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $4.94. The company has a market cap of $241.06 million, a P/E ratio of -12.07 and a beta of 1.15.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.08 by ($0.02). Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative return on equity of 2.80% and a negative net margin of 37.21%.The company had revenue of $13.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.63 million. As a group, analysts predict that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Ares Commercial Real Estate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -166.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Attessa Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the second quarter worth about $76,000. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 603.3% in the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 6,513 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 5,587 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 112,700 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 27,000 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 167,990 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 9,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 88.8% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 84,596 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 39,800 shares during the period. 41.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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