Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Stock Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI)’s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $10.44 and traded as high as $11.06. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance shares last traded at $10.9650, with a volume of 1,114,083 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on ARI. Bank of America started coverage on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $11.50 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.13.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 81.80, a current ratio of 81.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 1.37.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $58.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.85 million. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a net margin of 48.01% and a return on equity of 7.87%. Equities research analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.1%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 123.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 4,574 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.93, for a total value of $49,993.82. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,799 shares in the company, valued at approximately $271,053.07. This represents a 15.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARI. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 43.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 6,358 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 8.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $187,000 after acquiring an additional 1,582 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 14.5% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,093 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 2,166 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,146,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 50.4% in the second 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. 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 (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.