Citigroup Inc. Acquires 89,952 Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 761,709 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 89,952 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $11,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Walleye Trading LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 1st quarter worth $168,000. Burney Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the first quarter worth about $565,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 51.2% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 38,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $629,000 after buying an additional 13,000 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 86.8% during the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 148,730 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,163,000 after buying an additional 69,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 102,492 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,490,000 after buying an additional 1,590 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 target price (up from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.50.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of APLE opened at $16.20 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.72. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06 and a beta of 1.11. 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 twelve month low of $13.60 and a twelve month high of $17.90.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $378.84 million during 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 period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.94%.

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.