Wall Street Zen Upgrades Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) to Hold

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on ACRE. UBS Group initiated coverage on Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $5.50 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $5.50 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Price Performance

NYSE:ACRE opened at $4.72 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $262.14 million, a P/E ratio of -59.06 and a beta of 1.15. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a one year low of $4.14 and a one year high of $5.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.88.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.08. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative net margin of 8.04% and a positive return on equity of 4.08%. The business had revenue of $14.36 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.96 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ares Commercial Real Estate

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 456.0% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 4,948 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 603.3% in the first quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 6,513 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 5,587 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 100.3% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. 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.