Insider Buying: Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) Chairman Buys $69,800.00 in Stock

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Chairman Glade Knight purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $13.96 per share, for a total transaction of $69,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 747,191 shares in the company, valued at $10,430,786.36. This trade represents a 0.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

NYSE APLE opened at $13.76 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.18. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.85 and a 52-week high of $14.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85, a PEG ratio of 8.38 and a beta of 0.88.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $337.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $327.81 million. Analysts anticipate that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 131.51%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple Hospitality REIT

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,962,856 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $154,627,000 after purchasing an additional 68,794 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,107,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $84,227,000 after buying an additional 127,327 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 60.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 4,721,481 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,950,000 after buying an additional 1,786,018 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,714,872 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $55,871,000 after buying an additional 125,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centerbridge Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 88.2% during the fourth quarter. Centerbridge Partners L.P. now owns 4,229,785 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,123,000 after buying an additional 1,982,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on APLE shares. LADENBURG THALM/SH SH began coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $13.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised 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. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $13.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.93.

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.