Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Upgrades Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) to “Outperform”

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) was upgraded by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a $10.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target indicates a potential upside of 25.39% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on 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 company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.50.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARI opened at $7.98 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 51.19 and a current ratio of 51.19. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $9.62 and a 200 day moving average of $9.22. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a PE ratio of -8.39 and a beta of 1.41. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a one year low of $7.90 and a one year high of $11.20.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 predict that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 0.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total value of $520,219.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 385,928 shares in the company, valued at $3,855,420.72. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total value of $109,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,855.04. This trade represents a 53.34 % 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ARI. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,684,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter worth $3,360,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 480,852 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,164,000 after purchasing an additional 271,908 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,745,469 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,116,000 after purchasing an additional 226,399 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth about $1,586,000. 54.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.