Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ARI shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARI. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 43.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 6,358 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 8.9% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 1,582 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 7.3% in the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 32,819 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 2,245 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 10.5% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 31,018 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 2,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 17,093 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 2,166 shares in the last quarter. 54.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock opened at $10.43 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 96.78 and a quick ratio of 96.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04 and a beta of 1.52. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a one year low of $7.70 and a one year high of $11.20.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a return on equity of 7.94% and a net margin of 46.66%.The firm had revenue of $73.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.97 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is presently 125.00%.

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.