Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on ARI. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.75 to $11.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.00.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:ARI opened at $10.65 on Thursday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a one year low of $7.70 and a one year high of $11.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $10.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 96.78 and a quick ratio of 96.78.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.26. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a return on equity of 7.94% and a net margin of 46.66%.The business had revenue of $73.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $46.97 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,072 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 229,709 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ARI. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 60.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 1,047.8% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,871 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 66.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,419 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 2,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resources Management Corp CT ADV increased its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 47,757.1% in the fourth quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 6,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 6,686 shares during the last quarter. 54.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

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.