Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 100,000 Shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE)

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its stake in shares of Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. (NYSE:ACRE) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 924,629 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 100,000 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.70% of Ares Commercial Real Estate worth $9,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate by 18.1% in 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. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate in the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the third quarter worth about $250,000. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Ares Commercial Real Estate during the third quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.34% of the company’s stock.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Stock Performance

ACRE stock opened at $6.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $363.85 million, a PE ratio of -8.04 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.14. Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. has a fifty-two week low of $6.36 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24.

Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.64) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.34). The firm had revenue of $18.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.77 million. Ares Commercial Real Estate had a negative net margin of 54.60% and a positive return on equity of 0.84%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ares Commercial Real Estate Co. will post -2.4 EPS for the current year.

Ares Commercial Real Estate Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 16th. Investors 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 yield of 14.98%. Ares Commercial Real Estate’s dividend payout ratio is currently -120.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.