Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 970,332 Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. $APLE

Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 970,332 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $11,498,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,950,000. Centerbridge Partners L.P. boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 4th quarter valued at $13,361,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 763.8% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 648,487 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,788,000 after buying an additional 573,410 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Glade M. Knight acquired 5,000 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $13.96 per share, for a total transaction of $69,800.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman owned 747,191 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on APLE shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Apple Hospitality REIT from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple Hospitality REIT currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.94.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 0.2%

APLE opened at $16.61 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 22.76, a P/E/G ratio of 8.10 and a beta of 0.89. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a one year low of $10.85 and a one year high of $16.71. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $14.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.83.

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 the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $337.74 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $327.81 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 131.51%.

Apple Hospitality REIT Profile

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.