Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.88.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

NYSE ARI opened at $10.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.54. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a twelve month low of $7.70 and a twelve month high of $11.11. The company has a current ratio of 90.32, a quick ratio of 90.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $10.02 and a 200 day moving average of $10.07.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 51.40%.The company had revenue of $63.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.15 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In related news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,072 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.16, for a total transaction of $529,051.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 229,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,333,843.44. This trade represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $271,921,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 89.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,855,116 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,753,000 after purchasing an additional 877,675 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the first quarter worth $7,813,000. No Street GP LP boosted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 33.3% during the third quarter. No Street GP LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,390,000 after buying an additional 750,000 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the second quarter valued at $5,323,000. 54.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc (NYSE: ARI) is a real estate finance company structured as a real estate investment trust (REIT). The company focuses on originating, acquiring and managing a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate debt and preferred equity investments. As an externally managed vehicle, ARI leverages the expertise and resources of an affiliate of Apollo Global Management, a leading global alternative investment manager.

ARI’s investment strategy is centered on providing first mortgage loans, mezzanine debt financing, bridge loans and preferred equity across a broad range of property types, including office, retail, industrial and multifamily assets.