Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.25.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of APLE opened at $14.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 52-week low of $13.60 and a 52-week high of $17.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 1.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $14.73 and its 200-day moving average is $14.63.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $390.08 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $388.82 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 6.30%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 111.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple Hospitality REIT news, Chairman Glade M. Knight purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $14.04 per share, with a total value of $70,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now owns 636,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,943,339.60. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple Hospitality REIT

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,555,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $582,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,142 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,019,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $87,518,000 after purchasing an additional 881,217 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 400.8% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 638,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,286,000 after purchasing an additional 511,100 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 911.1% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 388,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,648,000 after buying an additional 350,000 shares during the period. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3,768.4% during the second quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 348,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,062,000 after buying an additional 339,156 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

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.