Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. $APLE

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 97,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of APLE. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 295.9% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,427 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,814 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1,375.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,832 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 2,640 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 97.5% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple Hospitality REIT

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight acquired 5,000 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $13.96 per share, with a total value of $69,800.00. Following the purchase, the chairman directly owned 747,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,430,786.36. This trade represents a 0.67% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Down 0.1%

APLE stock opened at $16.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 8.13 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.18. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.85 and a 52 week high of $17.06.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 5.43% and a net margin of 12.08%.The firm had revenue of $337.74 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $327.81 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 131.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APLE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Monday, June 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price objective 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH upped their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.94.

About Apple Hospitality REIT

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.