Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Price Target Lowered to $5.50 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $6.00 to $5.50 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price indicates a potential upside of 14.70% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on ACRE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.00 to $5.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.25.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

NYSE ACRE traded down $0.07 on Wednesday, hitting $4.80. 75,924 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 483,000. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 52-week low of $4.05 and a 52-week high of $5.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $266.03 million, a P/E ratio of -13.35 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $5.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $5.02.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ACRE. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 1st quarter valued at $129,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 1st quarter worth $166,000. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the first quarter valued at $47,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 6.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 83,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 5,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the second quarter valued at about $187,000. Institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

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.