Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Wedbush started coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 5,000 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.04 per share, for a total transaction of $70,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now owns 636,990 shares in the company, valued at $8,943,339.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLE. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 127.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,290 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

Apple Hospitality REIT stock opened at $14.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. Apple Hospitality REIT has a one year low of $13.60 and a one year high of $17.90. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day moving average of $14.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.14.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.13). Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.11% and a net margin of 14.58%. The company had revenue of $390.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $388.82 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.62%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 111.63%.

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.