Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance $ARI

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,086,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 150,529 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $11,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ARI. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 388.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,255 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 2nd quarter valued at $47,000. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 61.7% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,656 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,777 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,037 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892 shares during the period. 54.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research lowered Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Zacks Research downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Bank of America assumed coverage on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $11.50 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.33.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Trading Up 0.7%

ARI opened at $6.90 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.81. The firm has a market cap of $886.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 1.36. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a twelve month low of $6.43 and a twelve month high of $11.24.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The real estate investment trust reported ($2.62) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a return on equity of 7.39% and a net margin of 55.49%.The firm had revenue of $44.38 million for the quarter. On average, analysts forecast 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $3.75 per share. This represents a $15.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 217.4%. This is a positive change from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s 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.