Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance $ARI

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) by 21.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 774,154 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 139,336 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $7,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 43.4% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 6,358 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 66.4% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,561 shares during the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,358,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 124.8% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 25,505 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 14,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 19,328 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In related news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.16, for a total transaction of $529,051.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 229,709 shares in the company, valued at $2,333,843.44. This represents a 18.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ARI shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.50 to $11.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.00.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Up 0.4%

ARI opened at $10.61 on Friday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 12 month low of $7.70 and a 12 month high of $11.20. The company has a current ratio of 96.78, a quick ratio of 90.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $10.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.17. The company has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.26 and a beta of 1.54.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.26. The company had revenue of $73.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.97 million. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a return on equity of 7.94% and a net margin of 46.66%. On average, equities analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.4%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 125.00%.

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.