StockNews.com Upgrades Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) to "Buy"

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded 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 data from MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.00.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:ARI traded up $0.17 on Tuesday, reaching $8.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,013,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,088,982. The firm's fifty day moving average is $9.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.16. 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 market cap of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.77 and a beta of 1.41. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 12-month low of $7.70 and a 12-month high of $11.20.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.00%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -105.26%.

Insider Activity at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total value of $109,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at $95,855.04. This trade represents a 53.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the company's 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ARI. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 139.4% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 302,388 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,779,000 after buying an additional 176,101 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 65.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 329,462 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,028,000 after purchasing an additional 130,892 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $578,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 168.7% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 73,992 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $641,000 after buying an additional 46,458 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,236,601 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $131,949,000 after buying an additional 135,785 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.43% of the company's stock.

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.