Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. BTIG Research started coverage on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.88.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

ARI stock opened at $9.19 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 46.13 and a quick ratio of 46.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.92. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a 1 year low of $8.52 and a 1 year high of $12.74.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.89%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is -108.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARI. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 960.9% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 101,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $934,000 after purchasing an additional 92,060 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 2,562 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $422,000. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 169,289 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,556,000 after acquiring an additional 11,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 67,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,456 shares in the last quarter. 54.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.