Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) Hits New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $17.09 and last traded at $17.0550, with a volume of 208414 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $16.84.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 131.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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, June 1st. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH lifted their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $17.00 target price (up from $16.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $15.75.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 1.0%

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 company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $15.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.56.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple Hospitality REIT news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $13.96 per share, with a total value of $69,800.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman directly owned 747,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,430,786.36. The trade was a 0.67% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple Hospitality REIT

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APLE. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 109,512 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,298,000 after acquiring an additional 52,446 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 374,968 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,443,000 after acquiring an additional 61,354 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,123,000. UBS Group AG lifted its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 60.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,721,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,786,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 1st quarter valued at about $702,000. Institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

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.