Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on ACRE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $4.75 to $5.50 in a report on Monday, December 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Commercial Real Estate currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.33.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Down 3.8%

Shares of NYSE ACRE opened at $5.13 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $5.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.80. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 52-week low of $3.35 and a 52-week high of $6.09. The firm has a market cap of $282.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.16, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.26.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.17. The business had revenue of $5.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.35 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative return on equity of 5.15% and a negative net margin of 13.02%. Analysts anticipate that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post -0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ares Commercial Real Estate

In other Ares Commercial Real Estate news, VP Anton Feingold sold 7,606 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total value of $37,497.58. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 92,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $457,277.22. This represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Bryan Patrick Donohoe sold 21,761 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total transaction of $107,281.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 250,197 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,471.21. The trade was a 8.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 35,585 shares of company stock valued at $175,434 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 3,371 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 94.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 3,396 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 4,948 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 6.5% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 83,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 5,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 100.3% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 10,367 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 5,192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.