Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on ARI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.31.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

NYSE:ARI opened at $8.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.63 and a beta of 1.74. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 1-year low of $8.44 and a 1-year high of $11.64. The company has a current ratio of 46.13, a quick ratio of 46.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.29%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -108.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 57.7% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 2,562 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $93,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $112,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 272.1% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 14,089 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 10,303 shares during the last quarter. 54.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.