Insider Buying: Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Director Purchases $14,730.00 in Stock

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Director Redd Hugh purchased 1,000 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $14.73 per share, with a total value of $14,730.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 125,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,844,534.79. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Down 0.7 %

Apple Hospitality REIT stock opened at $14.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $15.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.14. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.22 and a twelve month high of $17.90.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.12). Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.58% and a return on equity of 6.11%. The company had revenue of $329.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $324.68 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.59%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is presently 111.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APLE. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,034,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,369,907 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $542,574,000 after acquiring an additional 2,476,241 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 94.6% during the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 310,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,159,000 after acquiring an additional 150,965 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 250,566 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,162,000 after acquiring an additional 19,309 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 17.5% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,375,459 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $51,746,000 after acquiring an additional 502,472 shares during the period. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.