Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NYSE:ACRE)

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.81%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

Ares Commercial Real Estate has a payout ratio of 172.4% 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 ($0.34) 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 -294.1%.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

NYSE ACRE traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $7.24. The company had a trading volume of 718,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 578,028. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.97. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a fifty-two week low of $6.25 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The stock has a market cap of $394.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.14 and a beta of 1.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ACRE. StockNews.com cut Ares Commercial Real Estate from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $7.50 to $7.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $7.10.

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.