Short Interest in Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Decreases By 8.6%

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a decrease of 8.6% from the November 15th total of 1,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 441,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ACRE. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $7.50 to $7.00 in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Commercial Real Estate currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.10.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Price Performance

ACRE stock opened at $6.84 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $6.85 and a 200-day moving average of $7.03. The company has a market cap of $373.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.80 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 12-month low of $6.25 and a 12-month high of $11.24.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 14.62%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s payout ratio is -84.75%.

Institutional Trading of Ares Commercial Real Estate

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ACRE. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,272,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,907,000 after buying an additional 16,309 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 2.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,052,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,627,000 after purchasing an additional 23,845 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 1.0% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 861,390 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 524,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,489,000 after purchasing an additional 111,194 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 206,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 19,626 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Company Profile

Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation, a specialty finance company, originates and invests in commercial real estate (CRE) loans and related investments in the United States. It provides a range of financing solutions for the owners, operators, and sponsors of CRE properties. The company originates senior mortgage loans, subordinate debt and preferred equity products, mezzanine loans, and other CRE investments, including commercial mortgage-backed securities.