UBS Group AG Buys 66,424 Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance $ARI

UBS Group AG raised its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 555,132 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,424 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $5,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. No Street GP LP increased its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 33.3% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 750,000 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,085,917 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $21,130,000 after acquiring an additional 134,308 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 50.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,291,072 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,498,000 after acquiring an additional 432,377 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,033,295 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,467,000 after acquiring an additional 34,521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 774,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,842,000 after acquiring an additional 139,336 shares during the last quarter. 54.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of ARI opened at $10.97 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $10.77 and its 200 day moving average is $10.40. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a fifty-two week low of $9.39 and a fifty-two week high of $11.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 81.80 and a current ratio of 81.81.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 48.01%.The business had revenue of $58.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.85 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is currently 123.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on ARI shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America initiated 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.93, for a total transaction of $49,993.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $271,053.07. The trade was a 15.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance 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.