Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Short Interest Update

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,730,000 shares, an increase of 20.9% from the April 30th total of 12,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Approximately 6.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.43 per share, for a total transaction of $114,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 700,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,004,931.92. This trade represents a 1.45% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders purchased a total of 12,000 shares of company stock valued at $137,120 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple Hospitality REIT

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the first quarter worth approximately $40,841,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,239,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $126,472,000 after buying an additional 1,761,996 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter valued at $21,099,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 1st quarter worth $9,055,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 9.4% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,401,428 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $95,552,000 after acquiring an additional 633,688 shares during the period. 89.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Hospitality REIT Price Performance

APLE stock opened at $11.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $11.76 and its 200 day moving average is $13.93. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 52 week low of $10.44 and a 52 week high of $16.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a current ratio of 0.04.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. The business had revenue of $327.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $332.86 million. Research analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a may 25 dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a yield of 8.3%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is 121.52%.

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.