Cura Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 386,000 Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance $ARI

Cura Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) by 46.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 437,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 386,000 shares during the period. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance makes up 2.1% of Cura Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Cura Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $4,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 60.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 7,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew 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 worth $187,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares during the period. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 83,682 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 61.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. 54.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 4,574 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance 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 owned 24,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $271,053.07. The trade was a 15.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock opened at $6.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $891.13 million, a P/E ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 81.81 and a quick ratio of 81.80. The business has a 50-day moving average of $10.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.54. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 1 year low of $6.74 and a 1 year high of $11.24.

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

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $3.75 per share. This is an increase from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $15.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 220.1%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 123.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ARI. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $11.50 price target on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.33.

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.