Stuart Rothstein Sells 52,072 Shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Stock

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,072 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.16, for a total value of $529,051.52. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 229,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,333,843.44. This trade represents a 18.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

ARI opened at $10.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 90.32 and a current ratio of 90.32. The company has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.28 and a beta of 1.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $10.00 and a 200-day moving average of $10.07. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 52-week low of $7.70 and a 52-week high of $11.11.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $63.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.15 million. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a return on equity of 8.34% and a net margin of 51.40%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ARI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Zacks Research downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.88.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 1.7% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 283,192 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 4,604 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,326,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,265,000 after purchasing an additional 63,191 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the first quarter valued at approximately $7,813,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 28.0% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 405,208 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,878,000 after purchasing an additional 88,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 26.3% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,620 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

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.