Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Posted by Brian Himes on Aug 5th, 2026

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE – Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Monday, May 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $5.50 target price for the company. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on ACRE

Ares Commercial Real Estate Trading Up 8.8%

Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate stock opened at $4.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $256.43 million, a PE ratio of -12.84 and a beta of 1.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $4.64 and its 200 day moving average is $4.89. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 1 year low of $4.05 and a 1 year high of $5.89.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.08. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative net margin of 37.21% and a negative return on equity of 2.80%. The business had revenue of $14.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.96 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is -166.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. North Ground Capital increased its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. North Ground Capital now owns 1,551,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,418,000 after buying an additional 393,943 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,315,902 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,935,000 after buying an additional 37,062 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC now owns 759,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,629,000 after buying an additional 165,193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 947.2% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 647,546 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,095,000 after buying an additional 585,711 shares in the last quarter. 41.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Ares Commercial Real Estate News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ares Commercial Real Estate this week:

Positive Sentiment: Quarterly earnings beat expectations. ACRE reported $0.12 per diluted share in distributable earnings, exceeding the $0.08 Zacks consensus estimate and the $0.04 analyst estimate cited by MarketBeat. GAAP net income was $4.4 million, or $0.08 per share, compared with a $11.0 million loss in the year-earlier quarter. Ares Commercial Real Estate second-quarter results
Positive Sentiment: Revenue and lending activity improved. Second-quarter revenue rose to $14.4 million from $12.6 million a year earlier and exceeded the $10.96 million analyst estimate. The specialty finance company also closed $130 million of new loan commitments and ended the quarter with more than $100 million of available capital, supporting continued investment capacity. ACRE tops second-quarter earnings and revenue estimates
Positive Sentiment: Dividend maintained. ACRE declared a third-quarter dividend of $0.15 per share, payable October 15 to shareholders of record September 30. The payment represents an annualized yield of approximately 13%, which may appeal to income-focused investors. ACRE dividend announcement
Neutral Sentiment: Management said it is repositioning the portfolio by addressing higher-risk loans, reducing office exposure and REO properties, and originating new loans. These efforts could improve credit quality over time, but execution remains important.
Negative Sentiment: Underlying risks remain. ACRE still reported a negative net margin of 37.21% and negative return on equity of 2.80%. In addition, distributable earnings of $0.12 per share were below the $0.15 quarterly dividend, suggesting coverage should be monitored despite the earnings rebound.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

(Get Free Report)

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.