Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Receives Market Perform Rating from JMP Securities

JMP Securities restated their market perform rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. BTIG Research raised Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $11.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.88.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Up 0.4 %

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $9.46. 70,599 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,113,391. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 1 year low of $7.70 and a 1 year high of $11.20. The firm has a market cap of $1.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.95 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 51.19 and a quick ratio of 51.19. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $9.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.18.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.07. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a positive return on equity of 9.37% and a negative net margin of 39.40%. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.57%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend payout ratio is currently -3,333.33%.

Insider Activity at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total value of $520,219.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 385,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,855,420.72. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total transaction of $109,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $95,855.04. This represents a 53.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 73,074 shares of company stock valued at $724,579. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 327.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 57.9% in 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 in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,858 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 783.8% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,366 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CF Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter worth $52,000. 54.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Company Profile

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.