Short Interest in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) Grows By 29.6%

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI – Get Rating) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totaling 6,260,000 shares, a growth of 29.6% from the September 15th total of 4,830,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.1 days. Currently, 4.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst’s Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on ARI. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $12.50 to $11.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 6th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group dropped their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance to $11.00 in a research note on Thursday.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Performance

ARI traded up $0.41 on Monday, hitting $9.49. 1,414,401 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,213,508. The firm has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a PE ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 1.43. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has a twelve month low of $7.91 and a twelve month high of $15.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.98 and a two hundred day moving average of $11.66. The company has a current ratio of 38.24, a quick ratio of 38.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.09.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 26th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.09. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a net margin of 71.47% and a return on equity of 8.22%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.38 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 30th were paid a $0.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 29th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.75%. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is currently 123.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 1.5% in the first quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 53,190 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $741,000 after purchasing an additional 766 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 6.1% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. H&H Retirement Design & Management INC increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 3.6% during the third quarter. H&H Retirement Design & Management INC now owns 30,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 5.9% during the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 19,036 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 100.9% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,475 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,243 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 55.57% of the company’s stock.

About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

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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. It is qualified as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code.

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