Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) Shares Purchased by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 552,586 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 84,251 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $4,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 327.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 57.7% during 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 during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ARI opened at $9.96 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $9.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.29. The company has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.48 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a current ratio of 51.19, a quick ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a twelve month low of $8.44 and a twelve month high of $11.64.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, analysts expect 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is -105.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ARI. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $8.75 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of 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. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $520,219.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 385,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,855,420.72. This trade represents a 11.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total value of $109,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,855.04. This trade represents a 53.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

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.