Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple Hospitality REIT currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.50.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock opened at $15.93 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.63. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Hospitality REIT has a one year low of $13.60 and a one year high of $17.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.04.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $378.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.56 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is 112.94%.

Institutional Trading of Apple Hospitality REIT

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,555,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $582,400,000 after buying an additional 1,217,142 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,398,673 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $121,192,000 after purchasing an additional 253,082 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 11.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,737,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $100,059,000 after purchasing an additional 718,844 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.8% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,375,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,072,000 after purchasing an additional 154,159 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 2.1% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,572,043 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $37,398,000 after buying an additional 53,300 shares during the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Apple Hospitality REIT

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc (NYSE: APLE) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns one of the largest and most diverse portfolios of upscale, rooms-focused hotels in the United States. Apple Hospitality's portfolio consists of 223 hotels with more than 29,400 guest rooms located in 87 markets throughout 37 states as well as one property leased to third parties.