Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

APLE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $17.00 price target (up from $16.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.00.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

Shares of NYSE APLE opened at $16.62 on Wednesday. Apple Hospitality REIT has a twelve month low of $10.85 and a twelve month high of $17.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average of $15.94 and a 200 day moving average of $13.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $337.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.81 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 5.43% and a net margin of 12.08%. As a group, research 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 declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.96 per share, with a total value of $69,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman directly owned 747,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,430,786.36. The trade was a 0.67% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 170,862 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,205,000 after purchasing an additional 4,712 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 114.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 136,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after buying an additional 72,553 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 5.2% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 137,557 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after buying an additional 6,788 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 295.9% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 1,814 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 10,235.7% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,705 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $280,000 after acquiring an additional 21,495 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Company Profile

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE: APLE) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that focuses on acquiring, owning and operating high-quality, upscale, select-service hotels. The company’s portfolio primarily consists of properties operated under premium franchise agreements with leading lodging brands such as Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt. Apple Hospitality REIT is self-managed and internally advised, overseeing property management, revenue optimization and asset-level operations through its in-house team of hospitality professionals.

The company’s holdings encompass over 200 hotels featuring more than 30,000 guest rooms across a diverse array of markets in the United States.