Legal & General Group Plc Raises Stake in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. $APLE

Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,623,818 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 146,431 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $19,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 73.1% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 10,163 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 4,292 shares during the last quarter. Carroll Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter worth $178,000. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter worth $132,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 35,071 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 6,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 43,518 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE APLE opened at $14.68 on Tuesday. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.85 and a 12 month high of $15.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $13.11 and a 200-day moving average of $12.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The company has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10 and a beta of 0.88.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 12.08% and a return on equity of 5.43%. The company had revenue of $337.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.81 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 29th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 131.51%.

Insider Activity at Apple Hospitality REIT

In related news, Chairman Glade M. Knight acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the chairman directly owned 747,191 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this link. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APLE has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Apple Hospitality REIT from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH assumed coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $13.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.94.

Apple Hospitality REIT 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.