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

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on ARI. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. BTIG Research cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $11.50 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.33.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARI opened at $6.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $8.14 and its 200 day moving average is $9.85. The company has a market cap of $879.21 million, a PE ratio of 8.55 and a beta of 1.36. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 1 year low of $6.43 and a 1 year high of $11.24.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 10th. The real estate investment trust reported ($2.62) earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $44.38 million during the quarter. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a return on equity of 7.39% and a net margin of 55.49%. Analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $3.75 dividend. This represents a $15.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 219.3%. This is a boost from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 18.8% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 7,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised 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 worth $187,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 41.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 61.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 1,777 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 18,532 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 1,824 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

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.