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

Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.00.

Several brokerages have issued reports on ARI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,072 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 229,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,333,843.44. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,244,477 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,047,000 after acquiring an additional 149,220 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 46,312 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 7,091 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the fourth quarter worth about $1,255,000. VARCOV Co. bought a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $471,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 584,800 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,661,000 after buying an additional 260,670 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE ARI opened at $10.65 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $10.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.21. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 12 month low of $7.70 and a 12 month high of $11.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 96.78 and a quick ratio of 96.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 1.54.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.26. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a return on equity of 7.94% and a net margin of 46.66%.The company had revenue of $73.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.97 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.4%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is currently 125.00%.

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.