HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 2,171 Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 16.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,694 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,171 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 80.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 37.8% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 2,541 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter valued at $159,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT during the fourth quarter worth about $167,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 14.6% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 11,727 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

Shares of APLE opened at $12.92 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $12.65 and a one year high of $16.50. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.04.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $333.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.11 million. Research analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.43%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.09%.

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.