Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Analyst Says

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $10.00 to $10.50 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com cut Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, BTIG Research upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $11.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.88.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE ARI opened at $9.53 on Tuesday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 12-month low of $7.70 and a 12-month high of $11.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.17. The company has a quick ratio of 51.19, a current ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.03 and a beta of 1.41.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.07. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a negative net margin of 39.40% and a positive return on equity of 9.37%. On average, research analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.50%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is currently -3,333.33%.

Insider Activity at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total value of $520,219.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 385,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,855,420.72. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total value of $109,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,855.04. This represents a 53.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. AlphaCore Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 41,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2.5% in the first quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 50,764 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 57.9% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,256 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 46,143 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,364 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 44,663 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. 54.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.