CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Acquires 30,123 Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 499,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,123 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $7,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,767,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $103,885,000 after buying an additional 29,781 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,575 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $77,867,000 after acquiring an additional 18,858 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 133,505 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,099,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,082,741 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,620,000 after purchasing an additional 26,489 shares during the period. 89.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:APLE opened at $11.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.00. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.44 and a 12-month high of $16.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.66.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. The company 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, equities research analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.11%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is 109.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APLE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.80.

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.