Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Upgraded at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) was upgraded by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Finviz reports. The firm currently has a $10.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 14.56% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.50.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Down 5.5 %

ARI opened at $8.73 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of -9.19 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 51.19 and a quick ratio of 51.19. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 12-month low of $8.44 and a 12-month high of $11.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $9.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.25.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total value of $109,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,624 shares in the company, valued at $95,855.04. This trade represents a 53.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $520,219.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 385,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,855,420.72. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 139.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 302,388 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,779,000 after purchasing an additional 176,101 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 65.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 329,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,028,000 after buying an additional 130,892 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 168.7% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 73,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 46,458 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 18.0% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 552,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,785,000 after acquiring an additional 84,251 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 252,609 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,188,000 after purchasing an additional 44,492 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.