Norges Bank Invests $3.36 Million in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 387,987 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,360,000. Norges Bank owned 0.28% of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ARI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 327.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 2,332 shares in the last quarter. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter valued at about $87,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter valued at about $93,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Down 4.0 %

NYSE:ARI opened at $8.22 on Friday. 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 $7.48 and a twelve month high of $11.20. The company has a market cap of $1.14 billion, a PE ratio of -8.65 and a beta of 1.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.20.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 negative net margin of 39.40% and a positive return on equity of 9.37%. Analysts anticipate that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s payout ratio is -105.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ARI shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report 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 upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

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.