Strs Ohio Acquires New Shares in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. $APLE

Key Points

• Strs Ohio acquired 340,400 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, valued at approximately $4.4 million, marking a 0.14% ownership stake in the company.
• Apple Hospitality REIT recently announced a $0.08 dividend, which represents a remarkable 735.0% dividend yield and will be paid to shareholders on September 15th.
• The company's stock has a current market capitalization of $2.98 billion and analysts have rated it with an average target price of $15.00, reflecting a Moderate Buy rating.

Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 340,400 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $4,395,000. Strs Ohio owned about 0.14% of Apple Hospitality REIT at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 36.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 155,289 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,005,000 after purchasing an additional 41,792 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $317,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 1st quarter worth $57,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 10,235.7% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,705 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 21,495 shares during the period. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC increased its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. PharVision Advisers LLC now owns 14,263 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058 shares during the period. 89.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Apple Hospitality REIT news, Chairman Glade M. Knight purchased 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $12.29 per share, for a total transaction of $61,450.00. Following the purchase, the chairman owned 705,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,668,677.76. This trade represents a 0.71% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

Shares of APLE traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,670,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,353,427. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a one year low of $10.44 and a one year high of $16.50. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $12.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a oct 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a dividend yield of 758.0%. Apple Hospitality REIT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on APLE shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Apple Hospitality REIT from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $14.00 to $12.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $15.00.

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.