JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Price Target to $5.00

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) had its price target decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $5.50 to $5.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on ACRE. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 30th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group assumed 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 on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, May 11th. One equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $5.25.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

Shares of ACRE opened at $4.62 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.70 and a 200-day moving average of $4.92. The company has a market cap of $256.04 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.82 and a beta of 1.15. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $13.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.63 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative return on equity of 2.80% and a negative net margin of 37.21%. Analysts predict that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.4 EPS for the current year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.0%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -166.67%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ACRE. Attessa Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 5,587 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 31.5% during the first quarter. Access Investment Management LLC now owns 112,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 27,000 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 5.7% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 167,990 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $806,000 after acquiring an additional 9,018 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 88.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 84,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 39,800 shares in the last quarter. 41.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.