Sterling Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Free Report) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,712 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after acquiring an additional 25,695 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $1,546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in APLE. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 80.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,905 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 6,740 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 1,128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 76.4% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 8,599 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 3,725 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on APLE shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple Hospitality REIT presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

Shares of APLE traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $11.87. 2,900,750 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,209,716. The company has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 1.00. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.44 and a 1 year high of $16.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $13.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.71. 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 Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 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 business had revenue of $333.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $330.11 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

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.