Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target 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. Three 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.88.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE ARI opened at $10.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 90.32, a current ratio of 90.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 12 month low of $7.70 and a 12 month high of $11.11. The company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.08.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 51.40%.The firm had revenue of $63.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.15 million. Sell-side analysts predict that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.0%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is 112.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In related news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,072 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.16, for a total value of $529,051.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 229,709 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,333,843.44. The trade was a 18.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at about $271,921,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 89.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,855,116 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,753,000 after purchasing an additional 877,675 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the first quarter worth approximately $7,813,000. No Street GP LP grew its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 33.3% during the third quarter. No Street GP LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,390,000 after purchasing an additional 750,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,323,000. 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 (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.