Wells Fargo & Company Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) Stock

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has increased its target price for Apple Hospitality REIT's stock from $12.00 to $13.00, indicating a potential upside of 2.15% from the previous close.
• BMO Capital Markets downgraded the stock from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating with a new price target of $12.00.
• Apple Hospitality REIT reported quarterly earnings of $0.47 EPS, matching analyst expectations, with revenue of $384.37 million exceeding estimates.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $12.00 to $13.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective indicates a potential downside of 0.52% from the stock's current price.

Separately, BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.00.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APLE traded down $0.08 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $13.07. 3,816,053 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,149,229. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42 and a beta of 1.05. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 1 year low of $10.44 and a 1 year high of $16.50. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $12.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. The company had revenue of $384.37 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $381.37 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 12.71% and a return on equity of 5.58%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight purchased 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.29 per share, with a total value of $61,450.00. Following the purchase, the chairman directly owned 705,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,668,677.76. This represents a 0.71% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 7.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLE. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 1st quarter valued at about $40,841,000. Centerbridge Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 2nd quarter valued at about $22,147,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,614,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 285.3% in the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,350,787 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $15,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 493.1% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 982,159 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $11,462,000 after purchasing an additional 816,574 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company's stock.

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.