Wells Fargo Reiterates Market Perform on Apollo Investment

Wells Fargo is out with its report today on Apollo Investment

, reiterating Market Perform. In a note to clients, Wells Fargo writes, "AINV reported NOI of $0.26/share in line with our estimate and consensus. Results were primarily driven by prepayment fees and slight growth in the investment portfolio. The general tone of the conference call remained upbeat as AINV continues to search the upper end of the middle market for meaningful risk adjusted returns. That said, we expect repayment will remain at elevated levels for the foreseeable future. Our updated FY2012 estimate remained flat at $1.06/share and we recently established a FY2013 NOI estimate of $1.08/share. Overall, we would expect repayment pressures to limit AINV's ability to grow the investment portfolio and maintain its current weighted average yield. We believe these pressures will keep the shares range bound over the next few quarters. Thus, we reiterate our Market Perform rating on AINV and maintain our valuation range of $10-11/share." Shares of AINV closed Wednesday at $10.91.