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

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $11.00.

A number of research firms have recently commented on ARI. Zacks Research lowered Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a report on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

NYSE:ARI opened at $10.43 on Friday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 1 year low of $7.70 and a 1 year high of $11.20. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.25. The company has a current ratio of 96.78, a quick ratio of 96.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 125.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 1,047.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 2,871 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the third quarter worth about $50,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 47,757.1% during the fourth quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 6,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 6,686 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 7,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

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.