Analysts Set Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Price Target at $10.31

Key Points

• Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by five analysts, with an average 1-year price objective of $10.31.
• CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares at an average price of $9.83, representing a 13.49% decrease in his position in the firm.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25, yielding 9.4%, with a total annualized dividend of $1.00.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Hold" by the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $10.3125.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ARI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.50 to $10.75 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

NYSE:ARI traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $10.96. 926,628 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 689,920. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $10.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.71. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a one year low of $7.70 and a one year high of $11.04. The company has a quick ratio of 98.25, a current ratio of 98.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -78.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.57.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.1%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend payout ratio is -714.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.83, for a total value of $511,887.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 333,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,281,784.82. This represents a 13.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the second quarter worth about $271,921,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the fourth quarter worth about $31,684,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 89.8% in the first 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 buying an additional 877,675 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the first quarter worth about $7,813,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the second quarter worth about $5,323,000. Institutional investors own 54.43% of the company's stock.

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.