Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) Shares Sold by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 98,703 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 1,693 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $855,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ARI. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance in the fourth quarter valued at about $93,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $112,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the fourth quarter worth about $112,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management lifted its position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 272.1% in the fourth quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 14,089 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 10,303 shares during the period. 54.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ARI shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock 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 research note on Saturday, February 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $8.75 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 385,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,855,420.72. This represents a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total transaction of $109,560.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Stock Up 0.1 %

ARI stock opened at $9.58 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 51.19, a quick ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $9.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.26. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.44 and a 52 week high of $11.20. The company has a market cap of $1.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.08 and a beta of 1.74.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. On average, research 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -105.26%.

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.