Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $10.8750.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,072 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.16, for a total value of $529,051.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 229,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,333,843.44. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 111.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 689,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,989,000 after buying an additional 364,098 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management lifted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 59,535 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 4,761 shares during the period. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the third quarter worth about $151,000. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the third quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, RDST Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,490,000. Institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE ARI opened at $9.84 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.97 and its 200 day moving average is $10.08. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 52 week low of $7.70 and a 52 week high of $11.11. The company has a quick ratio of 90.32, a current ratio of 90.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.05, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.54.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $63.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.15 million. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a net margin of 51.40% and a return on equity of 8.34%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.2%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.36%.

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.