Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NYSE:ACRE)

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 9th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, July 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 28th.

Ares Commercial Real Estate has a dividend payout ratio of 109.9% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Ares Commercial Real Estate to earn $0.97 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 103.1%.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE ACRE traded up $0.11 on Friday, reaching $6.90. The company had a trading volume of 577,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 688,101. The firm has a market cap of $375.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.53 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a fifty-two week low of $6.36 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $7.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.82.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.34). Ares Commercial Real Estate had a positive return on equity of 8.00% and a negative net margin of 43.30%. The firm had revenue of $18.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.77 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post -0.66 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $10.50 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a "c-" rating to a "d+" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $8.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Bryan Patrick Donohoe acquired 3,509 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Sunday, March 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.32 per share, for a total transaction of $50,248.88. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 41,259 shares of the company's stock, valued at $590,828.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.80% of the company's stock.

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.