Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) Stock Position Lowered by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,513 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 2,612 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $593,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 57.7% in 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. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter worth $93,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 3rd quarter worth $1,130,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter worth $112,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 272.1% in the 4th quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 14,089 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 10,303 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

Shares of ARI stock opened at $10.00 on Tuesday. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a 1-year low of $8.44 and a 1-year high of $11.64. The company has a current ratio of 51.19, a quick ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.53 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.32.

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

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.00%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio is -105.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ARI shares. UBS Group boosted 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. StockNews.com upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $8.75 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.44.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Profile

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.