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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price (up from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.50.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

APLE opened at $15.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.66. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 1 year low of $13.60 and a 1 year high of $17.90. 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.22). Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $378.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $377.56 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.19%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.94%.

Institutional Trading of Apple Hospitality REIT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 buying an additional 1,217,142 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,398,673 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $121,192,000 after purchasing an additional 253,082 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 11.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,737,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $100,059,000 after purchasing an additional 718,844 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,761,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $85,571,000 after purchasing an additional 62,149 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,457,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $66,187,000 after buying an additional 182,917 shares in the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.