Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.80.

A number of analysts have commented on APLE shares. Bank of America upgraded 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 research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of APLE stock opened at $13.42 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $14.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.12. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 1-year low of $13.11 and a 1-year high of $16.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.78 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.04.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $333.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.11 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. As a group, sell-side 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 disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.16%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Institutional Trading of Apple Hospitality REIT

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 45.4% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 18,970 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 5,920 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 28.8% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 23,056 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 5,157 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.3% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 380,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,645,000 after purchasing an additional 12,089 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT in the third quarter valued at $611,000. Finally, Aurora Investment Counsel increased its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 20.2% in the third quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 91,140 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 15,338 shares during the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.