Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Shares Pass Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) shares crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $10.24 and traded as high as $10.66. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance shares last traded at $10.4370, with a volume of 1,503,685 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ARI shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. 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. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.00.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Down 1.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 96.78 and a current ratio of 96.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.24.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $73.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $46.97 million. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a net margin of 46.66% and a return on equity of 7.94%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. No Street GP LP increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. No Street GP LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,390,000 after purchasing an additional 750,000 shares during the last quarter. Waterfall Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth $5,557,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 710.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 636,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,160,000 after buying an additional 557,850 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the second quarter valued at about $5,323,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2,573.9% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 504,054 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,879,000 after acquiring an additional 485,203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Company Profile

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.