Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Grows Holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 38.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 121,358 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,924 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS owned 0.05% of Apple Hospitality REIT worth $1,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the third quarter worth about $611,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $887,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,457,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $66,187,000 after buying an additional 182,917 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 13.4% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 761,709 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,311,000 after buying an additional 89,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 15.9% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 97,497 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,446,000 after buying an additional 13,402 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE APLE opened at $13.22 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.01 and a 12-month high of $16.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $14.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.09%.

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.