Norges Bank Buys New Stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 387,987 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $3,360,000. Norges Bank owned 0.28% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ARI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 2,332 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth $67,000. Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth about $87,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.43% of the company's stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ARI traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $8.33. 737,737 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,080,691. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 51.19 and a current 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. The stock's 50-day moving average is $9.56 and its 200-day moving average is $9.18. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $7.70 and a fifty-two week high of $11.20.

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Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.00%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's payout ratio is -105.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $10.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $9.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total value of $109,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $95,855.04. This represents a 53.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $520,219.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 385,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.