Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on ARI. Weiss Ratings cut Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.33.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of ARI opened at $6.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $873.43 million, a PE ratio of 8.49 and a beta of 1.36. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 12 month low of $6.43 and a 12 month high of $11.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $7.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.65.

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

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $3.75 per share. This is an increase from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $15.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 220.8%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio is 125.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 7,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 8.9% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 41.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 61.7% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777 shares during the period. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC grew its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 18,532 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824 shares during the period. 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.