Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 115,109 Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI - Free Report) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,063,511 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 115,109 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.77% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance worth $9,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ARI. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 57.7% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,002 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 2,562 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter valued at $93,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 3rd quarter worth $1,130,000. EMC Capital Management grew its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 272.1% during the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 14,089 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 10,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BBR Partners LLC purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 3rd quarter worth $138,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ARI has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $8.75 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $9.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.31.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $10.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 283,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 949,704. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $9.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 51.19 and a current ratio of 51.19. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a one year low of $8.44 and a one year high of $11.64. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.55 and a beta of 1.74.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.99%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance's dividend payout ratio is currently -105.26%.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Profile

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.