Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $6.15 and last traded at $6.2350, with a volume of 4565018 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $6.20.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 27th. Finally, BTIG Research downgraded shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.33.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $6.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $807.87 million, a PE ratio of 7.86 and a beta of 1.40.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The real estate investment trust reported ($2.62) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $44.38 million for the quarter. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a net margin of 55.49% and a return on equity of 7.39%. On average, research analysts expect that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post -0.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $3.75 per share. This is a positive change from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $15.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 238.7%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is 125.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARI. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 388.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 2,589 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the second quarter valued at about $47,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 61.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Markowski Investments purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the second quarter valued at about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc (NYSE: ARI) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates, acquires and manages commercial real estate debt investments. The company primarily seeks income from loans and other financing arrangements secured by commercial properties.

Its investment activities may include senior mortgage loans, subordinate and mezzanine financing, preferred equity investments, commercial mortgage-backed securities and other commercial real estate-related assets.