Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 1,761,996 Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 27.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,239,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,761,996 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $126,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 23,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $366,000 after purchasing an additional 755 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 6,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC now owns 14,502 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 40,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 27,079 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares during the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of APLE opened at $11.90 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.59. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 1.00. 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 1-year low of $10.44 and a 1-year high of $16.50.

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

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple Hospitality REIT presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.80.

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.