Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

ARI has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.50.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.36. 1,328,190 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,083,589. The company has a quick ratio of 51.19, a current ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a one year low of $7.70 and a one year high of $11.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $9.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.17. The company has a market cap of $1.16 billion, a PE ratio of -8.79 and a beta of 1.41.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.07. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a negative net margin of 39.40% and a positive return on equity of 9.37%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 9,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,855.04. The trade was a 53.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $520,219.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 385,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,855,420.72. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 327.1% in 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 during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 57.9% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 783.8% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 4,366 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 3,872 shares in the last quarter. CF Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the fourth quarter worth approximately $67,000. 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.