Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) Upgraded by Compass Point to Buy Rating

Compass Point upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Compass Point currently has $18.50 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous target price of $17.50.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH increased their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Barclays restated 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, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.28.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of APLE opened at $16.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.80. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 1-year low of $10.85 and a 1-year high of $17.28.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 12.17% and a return on equity of 5.56%. The business had revenue of $402.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $391.88 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 31st. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.9%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.51%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,774,000. Palouse Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 21.1% during the second quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,304 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 15.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,552 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $194,000 after buying an additional 1,548 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 20.1% in the first quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 97,244 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,119,000 after buying an additional 16,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 6.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,049,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $23,585,000 after buying an additional 115,575 shares during the period. 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.