Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Trims Holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lowered its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 14.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 159,268 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 26,964 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned approximately 0.07% of Apple Hospitality REIT worth $2,316,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,260,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 worth $582,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,142 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 347,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,696,000 after purchasing an additional 35,166 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 1st quarter valued at about $338,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 121,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after buying an additional 15,608 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Apple Hospitality REIT news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.04 per share, for a total transaction of $70,200.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 636,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,943,339.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

APLE stock opened at $14.35 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.94. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.13). Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 14.91%. The business had revenue of $390.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $388.82 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 111.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on APLE. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on Apple Hospitality REIT from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.25.

Apple Hospitality REIT 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.