Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $16.80.

Several research firms recently weighed in on APLE. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Apple Hospitality REIT

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,293,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $64,000. PharVision Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $203,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,484,034 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $22,780,000 after buying an additional 22,692 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,898,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock opened at $14.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.12. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39 and a beta of 1.13. Apple Hospitality REIT has a fifty-two week low of $13.60 and a fifty-two week high of $16.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a current ratio of 0.04.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. The firm had revenue of $333.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.11 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.49%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.09%.

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.