Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 2,798,323 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 35% from the previous session’s volume of 2,080,314 shares.The stock last traded at $6.8950 and had previously closed at $7.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ARI. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $11.50 target price for the company. Zacks Research upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.33.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 81.81 and a quick ratio of 81.80. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $915.97 million, a P/E ratio of 8.65 and a beta of 1.35.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $58.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.85 million. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a net margin of 48.01% and a return on equity of 7.87%. Research analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $3.75 dividend. This represents a $15.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 214.1%. This is a positive change from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio is 123.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 4,574 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.93, for a total value of $49,993.82. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $271,053.07. This represents a 15.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 41.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 1st quarter worth $245,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 61.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 1,777 shares during the period. Optiver Holding B.V. increased its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 3,473.7% during the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 13,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 12,957 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 17.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 382,239 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,036,000 after buying an additional 56,746 shares in 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.