Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.25

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has raised its dividend by an average of 1.3% annually over the last three years. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a dividend payout ratio of 84.7% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

ARI traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $9.89. 668,585 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 971,199. The company’s 50-day moving average is $9.37 and its 200 day moving average is $9.31. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 52 week low of $8.44 and a 52 week high of $11.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of -10.41 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a quick ratio of 51.19, a current ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.07. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a positive return on equity of 9.37% and a negative net margin of 39.40%. On average, research analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ARI has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.08.

Insider Transactions at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In related 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 transaction of $109,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,855.04. This represents a 53.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Company 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.