Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) Short Interest Down 12.7% in July

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,140,000 shares, a decline of 12.7% from the July 15th total of 2,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 551,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Significant Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the fourth quarter valued at $439,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 19,161 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 2,933 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 386,179 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ACRE shares. StockNews.com cut Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 10th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.80.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:ACRE traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $6.84. The company had a trading volume of 475,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 626,713. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a 1 year low of $6.36 and a 1 year high of $11.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $372.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.24 and a beta of 1.46.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.62%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -120.48%.

About Ares Commercial Real Estate

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.