Teacher Retirement System of Texas Acquires New Position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 19,192 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $184,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,236,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $131,949,000 after purchasing an additional 135,785 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,684,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,745,469 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,116,000 after purchasing an additional 226,399 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 26.5% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 666,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,774,000 after purchasing an additional 139,643 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 130.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,164,000 after purchasing an additional 271,908 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ARI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.50 to $10.75 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group set a $10.50 price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.31.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock opened at $9.73 on Monday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 52-week low of $7.70 and a 52-week high of $11.15. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.84 and a 200-day moving average of $9.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -324.33, a PEG ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a quick ratio of 74.89, a current ratio of 74.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is -3,333.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.83, for a total transaction of $511,887.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 333,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,281,784.82. This trade represents a 13.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Mark C. Biderman sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.48, for a total transaction of $94,800.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 60,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $576,260.76. The trade was a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Company Profile

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates, acquires, invests in, and manages commercial first mortgage loans, subordinate financings, and other commercial real estate-related debt investments in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe.