Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Purchases New Stake in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,991 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $31,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,767,740 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $103,885,000 after purchasing an additional 29,781 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,761,364 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $85,571,000 after acquiring an additional 62,149 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,243,575 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $77,867,000 after acquiring an additional 18,858 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,590,568 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $70,465,000 after buying an additional 133,505 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT during the fourth quarter worth about $21,099,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

APLE opened at $12.20 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.35 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $13.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.87. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.44 and a twelve month high of $16.50.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $333.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.11 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. Equities analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.87%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.09%.

Apple Hospitality REIT Company Profile

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.