Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $16.80.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on APLE shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Bank of America raised Apple Hospitality REIT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.43 per share, with a total value of $114,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 700,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,004,931.92. The trade was a 1.45 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders purchased 12,000 shares of company stock worth $137,120. Insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple Hospitality REIT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLE. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,239,061 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $126,472,000 after buying an additional 1,761,996 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,401,428 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $95,552,000 after buying an additional 633,688 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,590,568 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $70,465,000 after acquiring an additional 133,505 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,259,501 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $50,033,000 after acquiring an additional 209,698 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 2.1% during the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 2,519,277 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $32,524,000 after purchasing an additional 52,734 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company's stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

NYSE:APLE traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $11.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,842,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,257,055. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 52 week low of $10.44 and a 52 week high of $16.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.36.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $327.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $332.86 million. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.16%. Apple Hospitality REIT's dividend payout ratio is currently 121.52%.

Apple Hospitality REIT Company Profile

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.