Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Stock Price Target Cut by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $5.50 to $4.50 in a note issued to investors on Friday, 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 25.52% from the stock’s current price.

ACRE has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $5.50 to $5.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Commercial Real Estate presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $5.00.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

ACRE traded down $0.07 on Friday, reaching $3.58. The company had a trading volume of 253,274 shares, compared to its average volume of 472,126. The stock has a market cap of $198.90 million, a P/E ratio of -44.81 and a beta of 1.19. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a fifty-two week low of $3.57 and a fifty-two week high of $5.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $4.41 and its 200 day moving average is $4.67.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.08. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a positive return on equity of 4.08% and a negative net margin of 8.04%.The company had revenue of $14.36 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.96 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post 0.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 57,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 3,021 shares during the period. Gratia Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the second quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $141,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Equitable Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $115,000. Institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE: ACRE) is a real estate investment trust focused on commercial real estate finance. The company originates and invests in loans and other credit-related investments secured by commercial properties, with an emphasis on providing financing to property owners and investors.

Its investment activities include senior mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, subordinated loans and other forms of commercial real estate debt. The company generally targets properties such as multifamily, office, industrial, retail, hospitality and other commercial assets, including both stabilized and transitional properties.

Ares Commercial Real Estate primarily serves borrowers and real estate sponsors in the United States.