Brokerages Set Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Target Price at $16.80

Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $16.80.

APLE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated 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.

Institutional Trading of Apple Hospitality REIT

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 11.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 718,844 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 62,149 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,575 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $77,867,000 after acquiring an additional 18,858 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.3% in 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,375,016 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,072,000 after acquiring an additional 154,159 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Up 0.1 %

Apple Hospitality REIT stock opened at $15.16 on Friday. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 52 week low of $13.60 and a 52 week high of $17.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.97. 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 (NYSE:APLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $378.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.56 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.