Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, October 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 13.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th.

Ares Commercial Real Estate has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a payout ratio of 260.9% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Ares Commercial Real Estate to earn $0.54 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 111.1%.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Up 8.8%

Shares of NYSE ACRE opened at $4.62 on Wednesday. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a twelve month low of $4.05 and a twelve month high of $5.89. The firm has a market cap of $256.43 million, a PE ratio of -12.84 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.89.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 2.80% and a negative net margin of 37.21%.The firm had revenue of $14.36 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.96 million. On average, research analysts expect that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $5.50 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $5.50 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.25.

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.