Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Downgraded to "Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate to “sell” from “hold.” MarketBeat data shows a consensus “reduce” rating, with one buy, four hold, and two sell recommendations, and an average price target of $5.25.
• ACRE shares opened at $4.26, near their 52-week low of $4.05, while the stock’s 50-day and 200-day moving averages stood at $4.65 and $4.90, respectively.
• The REIT reported quarterly EPS of $0.06, missing the $0.08 consensus estimate, despite revenue of $13.46 million exceeding forecasts; institutional investors own 41.34% of its shares.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report issued on Sunday.

Several other research firms also recently commented on ACRE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $5.50 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Monday, May 11th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ares Commercial Real Estate currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $5.25.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:ACRE opened at $4.26 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $236.62 million, a P/E ratio of -11.85 and a beta of 1.15. The firm's 50 day moving average is $4.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.90. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a fifty-two week low of $4.05 and a fifty-two week high of $5.89.

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

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACRE. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 27,950 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 2,284 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 9.0% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 41,019 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 3,371 shares during the last quarter. HRT Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 36.0% in the fourth quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 16,790 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 4,445 shares during the last quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 4,936 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 456.0% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,033 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.34% of the company's stock.

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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