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

Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given 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 dividend yield of 13.62%. 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 research 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 Price Performance

NYSE:ACRE traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $7.34. 265,851 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 575,494. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $6.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.32. The company has a market capitalization of $400.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.94 and a beta of 1.46. Ares Commercial Real Estate has a one year low of $6.25 and a one year high of $11.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Ares Commercial Real Estate from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $7.50 to $7.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ares Commercial Real Estate currently 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.