Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.8750.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ARI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Monday, December 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In related news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,072 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were 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 $2,333,843.44. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 111.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 689,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,989,000 after buying an additional 364,098 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management lifted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 8.7% in the third quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 59,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 4,761 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the third quarter worth about $151,000. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, RDST Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,490,000. 54.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE:ARI opened at $9.84 on Friday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 12-month low of $7.70 and a 12-month high of $11.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.08. The company has a current ratio of 90.32, a quick ratio of 90.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 112.36%.

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.