Short Interest in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) Drops By 15.3%

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,150,000 shares, a decrease of 15.3% from the October 15th total of 4,900,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ARI. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 65.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 329,462 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,028,000 after acquiring an additional 130,892 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 619.3% during the third quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 87,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 75,046 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 139.4% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 302,388 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,779,000 after purchasing an additional 176,101 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 1.1% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 578,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,314,000 after purchasing an additional 6,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the third quarter worth about $143,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

ARI traded up $0.04 on Monday, reaching $9.11. The company had a trading volume of 824,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 953,943. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a fifty-two week low of $8.52 and a fifty-two week high of $12.74. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.80 and a beta of 1.75. The company’s fifty day moving average is $9.15 and its 200 day moving average is $9.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 46.13 and a current ratio of 46.13.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.98%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is presently -108.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ARI shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $10.00 to $9.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.50 to $8.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $9.63.

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.