Cerity Partners LLC Buys 18,601 Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 87.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,928 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 18,601 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 4th quarter valued at $51,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 80.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,905 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 6,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,128 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on APLE. Bank of America upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of APLE stock opened at $11.87 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.71. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.44 and a 12-month high of $16.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 1.00.

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

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.08%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.09%.

Apple Hospitality REIT Profile

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.