Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Issues Earnings Results

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.17, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $5.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.35 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative return on equity of 5.44% and a negative net margin of 29.57%.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Price Performance

Ares Commercial Real Estate stock traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $5.06. The stock had a trading volume of 1,353,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 518,873. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a twelve month low of $3.35 and a twelve month high of $7.49. The firm has a market cap of $278.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.87 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $4.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.62.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.9%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is currently -176.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,110,321 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,028,000 after acquiring an additional 74,453 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,685,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 453,704 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,164,000 after purchasing an additional 33,764 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 4.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 376,815 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,699,000 after purchasing an additional 14,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.8% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 226,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ACRE. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $5.00 to $4.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.25 to $4.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $4.83.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Company Profile

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.