Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 (NYSE:ACRE)

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st.

Ares Commercial Real Estate has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 8.8% annually over the last three years. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a payout ratio of 161.3% 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 analysts expect Ares Commercial Real Estate to earn ($0.32) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -312.5%.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

NYSE:ACRE traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $5.08. 1,752,431 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 618,809. The stock has a market capitalization of $276.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.30 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a fifty-two week low of $5.01 and a fifty-two week high of $8.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Commercial Real Estate

In other news, VP Anton Feingold sold 7,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.68, for a total transaction of $43,253.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 78,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,084.80. The trade was a 8.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on ACRE shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.60.

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.