Introducing Ares Commercial Real Estate (NYSE:ACRE), A Stock That Climbed 31% In The Last Five Years
When you buy and hold a stock for the long term, you definitely want it to provide a positive return. But more than that, you probably want to see it rise more than the market average. But Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE:ACRE) has fallen short of that second goal, with a share price rise of 31% over five years, which is below the market return. However, if you include the dividends then the return is market beating. Over the last twelve months the stock price has risen a very respectable 12%.
View 1 warning sign we detected for Ares Commercial Real Estate
To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).
Over half a decade, Ares Commercial Real Estate managed to grow its earnings per share at 15% a year. The EPS growth is more impressive than the yearly share price gain of 5.5% over the same period. Therefore, it seems the market has become relatively pessimistic about the company.
The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. Dive deeper into the earnings by checking this interactive graph of Ares Commercial Real Estate's earnings, revenue and cash flow.
What About Dividends?
It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, Ares Commercial Real Estate's TSR for the last 5 years was 100%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!
A Different Perspective
Ares Commercial Real Estate provided a TSR of 23% over the last twelve months. But that was short of the market average. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it's actually better than the average return of 15% over half a decade It is possible that returns will improve along with the business fundamentals. If you want to research this stock further, the data on insider buying is an obvious place to start. You can click here to see who has been buying shares - and the price they paid.
If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned.
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