Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Short Interest Up 26.7% in March

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 5,099,550 shares, a growth of 26.7% from the February 26th total of 4,025,818 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,400,972 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 3.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Zacks Research cut shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.00.

Institutional Trading of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 increased its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 1,047.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 3,145 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 2,871 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV raised its position in 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 valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 6,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 18.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 7,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $10.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 624,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,372,806. The company has a current ratio of 96.78, a quick ratio of 96.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.29 and a beta of 1.52. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 52 week low of $7.70 and a 52 week high of $11.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $10.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.23.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a net margin of 46.66% and a return on equity of 7.94%. The firm had revenue of $73.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $46.97 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.4%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio is presently 125.00%.

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.