Meritage Portfolio Management Lowers Stake in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Meritage Portfolio Management lessened its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 330,618 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 3,620 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $4,910,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLE. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Quarry LP grew its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 127.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 40.4% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 115.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 2,313 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 4,406.5% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 5,543 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 5,420 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.50.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Up 2.0 %

Apple Hospitality REIT stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $15.93. The stock had a trading volume of 2,359,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,782,173. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.60 and a 52 week high of $17.90. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.74 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $14.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.63.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $378.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.56 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 112.94%.

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.