Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

ACRE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $4.75 to $5.50 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Commercial Real Estate currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.33.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ACRE opened at $5.13 on Wednesday. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 12 month low of $3.35 and a 12 month high of $6.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $282.03 million, a P/E ratio of -34.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $5.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.80.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 7th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.17. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative net margin of 13.02% and a negative return on equity of 5.15%. The company had revenue of $5.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.35 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ares Commercial Real Estate will post -0.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Anton Feingold sold 7,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total value of $37,497.58. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 92,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $457,277.22. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Michael Gonzales sold 6,218 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.93, for a total value of $30,654.74. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $436,467.69. This represents a 6.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,585 shares of company stock valued at $175,434. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ACRE. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the first quarter worth about $129,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,000. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 82,402 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 8,048 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 94.3% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,997 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 3,396 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Company Profile

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.