Short Interest in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Expands By 20.9%

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,730,000 shares, a growth of 20.9% from the April 30th total of 12,180,000 shares. Currently, 6.7% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 3,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple Hospitality REIT

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight purchased 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $11.43 per share, for a total transaction of $114,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 700,344 shares in the company, valued at $8,004,931.92. This trade represents a 1.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $137,120. Company 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 bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,239,061 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $126,472,000 after buying an additional 1,761,996 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 9.4% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,401,428 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $95,552,000 after purchasing an additional 633,688 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.3% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,401,005 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $82,637,000 after purchasing an additional 80,591 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.0% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 133,505 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,259,501 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $50,033,000 after buying an additional 209,698 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.66% of the company's stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE APLE traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $11.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,806,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,288,089. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.84 and a beta of 1.04. Apple Hospitality REIT has a one year low of $10.44 and a one year 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.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $332.86 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a may 25 dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a yield of 8.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Apple Hospitality REIT's dividend payout ratio is currently 121.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $17.25.

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.