VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases Shares of 235,100 Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. $APLE

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 235,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,952,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Palouse Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 21.1% during the 2nd quarter. Palouse Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,304 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 7.9% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.4% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 240,111 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.4% during the second quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 80,287 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $937,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 13,519 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on APLE shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH increased their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings raised Apple Hospitality REIT from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.50.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

NYSE:APLE opened at $15.53 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.33 and a 200-day moving average of $14.59. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.85 and a twelve month high of $17.28.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $391.88 million. Analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.2%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 129.73%.

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.