Merrion Investment Management Co LLC Reduces Position in Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE)

Merrion Investment Management Co LLC trimmed its position in Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) by 7.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 167,351 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 13,000 shares during the quarter. Ares Commercial Real Estate accounts for approximately 0.9% of Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC owned about 0.31% of Ares Commercial Real Estate worth $1,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ACRE. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the third quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate during the 3rd quarter valued at about $250,000. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate by 14.4% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 51,638 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 6,519 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 29,395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 5,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 136,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,418,000 after buying an additional 34,491 shares during the period. 41.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ACRE has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.50 to $7.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $10.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective (down from $11.00) on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.42.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Up 3.4 %

ACRE traded up $0.22 on Friday, hitting $6.65. 1,107,690 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 519,017. Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. has a one year low of $6.36 and a one year high of $11.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.10.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.64) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.34). The company had revenue of $18.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.77 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a positive return on equity of 0.84% and a negative net margin of 54.60%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. will post -2.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 15.04%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -120.48%.

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.