Short Interest in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) Rises By 6.9%

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) was the target of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,800,000 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the September 15th total of 4,490,000 shares. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ARI. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Friday, July 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.88.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

Shares of ARI stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $8.98. 531,909 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 909,382. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 54.21 and a quick ratio of 54.21. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $9.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.13. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a fifty-two week low of $8.52 and a fifty-two week high of $12.74.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -128.21%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott Prince sold 4,935 shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.12, for a total transaction of $49,942.20. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 81,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $821,278.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ARI. Luxor Capital Group LP bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the second quarter worth approximately $7,342,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 32.1% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,034,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,126,000 after buying an additional 251,280 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 11.1% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 789,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,798,000 after buying an additional 78,833 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 400.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 83,443 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $930,000 after purchasing an additional 66,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 36.1% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 225,123 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,204,000 after purchasing an additional 59,764 shares in the last quarter. 54.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Company 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.