Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Receives $9.00 Average Price Target from Analysts

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and seven have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.79.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $8.00 to $7.50 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $10.50 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Bank of America reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, TheStreet lowered Ares Commercial Real Estate from a "c-" rating to a "d+" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th.

Insider Transactions at Ares Commercial Real Estate

In other news, VP Anton Feingold sold 5,890 shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.37, for a total transaction of $61,079.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at $715,270.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Anton Feingold sold 5,890 shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.37, for a total transaction of $61,079.30. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 68,975 shares of the company's stock, valued at $715,270.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bryan Patrick Donohoe bought 3,509 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $14.32 per share, for a total transaction of $50,248.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 41,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $590,828.88. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.93% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 5.6% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 4,702,853 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $47,734,000 after buying an additional 251,277 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,748,768 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,477,000 after buying an additional 116,999 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 10.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,285,654 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $13,884,000 after buying an additional 118,414 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 62.3% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,145,612 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $10,414,000 after buying an additional 439,585 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,088,317 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,046,000 after buying an additional 30,549 shares in the last quarter. 41.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Down 4.1 %

Ares Commercial Real Estate stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $6.94. The stock had a trading volume of 1,141,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 724,512. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a twelve month low of $6.81 and a twelve month high of $11.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $377.67 million, a PE ratio of -9.64 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $7.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.19.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Ares Commercial Real Estate's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -138.89%.

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.