Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) Sets New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $12.96 and last traded at $12.99, with a volume of 589790 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.19.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Down 1.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.61 and a 200 day moving average of $15.06.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share 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 $333.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.11 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.47%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is presently 109.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT during the 3rd quarter worth $611,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT in the third quarter valued at about $887,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,457,063 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $66,187,000 after purchasing an additional 182,917 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 13.4% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 761,709 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,311,000 after purchasing an additional 89,952 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 74,732 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 4,369 shares during the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Apple Hospitality REIT

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.