Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

ARI has been the subject of several other reports. BTIG Research downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings cut Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $11.50 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.33.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:ARI opened at $6.83 on Friday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 12-month low of $6.43 and a 12-month high of $11.24. The stock has a market cap of $876.32 million, a PE ratio of 8.54 and a beta of 1.36. The business has a 50 day moving average of $8.93 and a 200-day moving average of $10.11.

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

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $3.75 dividend. This is a boost from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $15.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 219.5%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is 125.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 2nd quarter valued at $127,411,000. Empyrean Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 1st quarter worth $9,332,000. Greenland Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 2nd quarter worth $9,238,000. No Street GP LP grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. No Street GP LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,390,000 after purchasing an additional 750,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the second quarter worth $6,767,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Company Profile

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.