Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Rating Lowered to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance was downgraded to a "sell" by Wall Street Zen (from "hold"), while the analyst consensus across firms remains a "Hold" with a $11.00 target price.
• The company missed its latest quarter, reporting $0.22 EPS vs. $0.29 expected and $58.6M revenue vs. $77.9M expected, with sell-side forecasts of $0.88 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Shares trade around $11.04 with a market cap of about $1.47B and a P/E of 13.6, and institutional investors own roughly 54% of the stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised 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 raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of ARI opened at $11.04 on Friday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 1-year low of $9.30 and a 1-year high of $11.24. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 81.81 and a quick ratio of 96.78. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $10.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.32.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 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 return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 48.01%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ARI. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 1,047.8% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,145 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 2,871 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV grew its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 47,757.1% during the fourth quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 6,700 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 6,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 18.8% in the fourth 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.43% of the company's stock.

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.

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