UBS Group Boosts Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Price Target to $10.50

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) had its price objective increased by UBS Group from $10.00 to $10.50 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust's stock.

ARI has been the topic of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.50 to $10.75 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. BTIG Research upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.31.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ARI traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.85. 1,094,348 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,168,737. The firm has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -328.33, a PEG ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.46. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a twelve month low of $7.70 and a twelve month high of $11.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.45. The company has a quick ratio of 74.89, a current ratio of 74.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.15%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's payout ratio is currently -3,333.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 333,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,281,784.82. This trade represents a 13.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark C. Biderman sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.48, for a total value of $94,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 60,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at $576,260.76. This trade represents a 14.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ARI. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 2nd quarter worth about $271,921,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth about $31,684,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 89.8% during the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 877,675 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 1st quarter worth about $7,813,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth about $3,360,000. 54.43% of the stock is 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.