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

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 13th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given 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 yield of 11.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Ares Commercial Real Estate has decreased its dividend by an average of 8.8% per year 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. Research 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 Trading Down 5.1 %

NYSE:ACRE opened at $5.08 on Friday. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a one year low of $5.01 and a one year high of $8.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $276.80 million, a P/E ratio of -4.30 and a beta of 1.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Anton Feingold sold 7,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.68, for a total transaction of $43,253.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 78,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,084.80. The trade was a 8.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ACRE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $6.00 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ares Commercial Real Estate presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.60.

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.