Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. to “Overweight” Rating

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $10.50 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price target of $10.00.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on ARI. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.75.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Up 1.7%

NYSE:ARI opened at $10.15 on Monday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 52 week low of $7.70 and a 52 week high of $11.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $10.35 and a 200 day moving average of $9.82. The company has a quick ratio of 98.25, a current ratio of 98.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -72.46, a PEG ratio of 0.29 and a beta of 1.60.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.02). Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a negative net margin of 1.49% and a positive return on equity of 8.42%. The company had revenue of $43.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.40 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.9%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio is presently -714.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,073 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.78, for a total value of $561,346.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 281,781 shares in the company, valued at $3,037,599.18. This represents a 15.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 1,047.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 2,871 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 39.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,858 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 55.6% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,059 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the second quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 94.1% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,909 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 2,864 shares in the last quarter. 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 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.