Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance $ARI

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 58,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $615,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARI. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 43.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 6,358 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,093 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,166 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the second quarter worth about $1,146,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 50.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,291,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,498,000 after purchasing an additional 432,377 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Down 0.6%

ARI stock opened at $10.22 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 81.80, a current ratio of 81.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a twelve month low of $9.49 and a twelve month high of $11.24. The company has a market cap of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $10.83 and a 200-day moving average of $10.59.

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

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $3.75 per share. This represents a $15.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 146.7%. This is an increase from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is 123.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ARI shares. Bank of America initiated coverage on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $11.50 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. BTIG Research cut Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In related news, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 4,574 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $271,053.07. This represents a 15.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.