Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) Upgraded to Hold at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

APLE has been the topic of several other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.00.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

APLE stock opened at $16.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.87. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 12-month low of $10.85 and a 12-month high of $17.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.65.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $337.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $327.81 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Investors of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.7%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is presently 131.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight acquired 5,000 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $13.96 per share, for a total transaction of $69,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 747,191 shares in the company, valued at $10,430,786.36. The trade was a 0.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple Hospitality REIT

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Palouse Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,304 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 7.9% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $167,000 after buying an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.4% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 240,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after buying an additional 1,068 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.4% during the second quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 80,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $937,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,519 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $160,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.