Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Invests $255,000 in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,610 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $255,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.3% in the 4th 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 period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 20.1% in the 4th 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 period. Inspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 8.5% in the 4th 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 period. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,272 shares during the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on APLE shares. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $14.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Glade M. Knight purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $11.43 per share, for a total transaction of $114,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now owns 700,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,004,931.92. This represents a 1.45% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders acquired 12,000 shares of company stock worth $137,120 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:APLE opened at $11.40 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.42 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $11.72 and a 200-day moving average of $13.70. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.44 and a 12-month high of $16.50.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $327.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $332.86 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a may 25 dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a yield of 8.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is presently 121.52%.

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.