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

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

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on APLE. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Friday, November 8th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.50.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE APLE opened at $15.50 on Thursday. Apple Hospitality REIT has a twelve month low of $13.60 and a twelve month high of $17.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 1.11. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. The firm had revenue of $378.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts expect 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 announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.19%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is 112.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple Hospitality REIT

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APLE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,555,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $582,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,142 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,398,673 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $121,192,000 after buying an additional 253,082 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in 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 valued at $100,059,000 after buying an additional 718,844 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,761,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $85,571,000 after acquiring an additional 62,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,457,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $66,187,000 after acquiring an additional 182,917 shares during the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.