Bank of Montreal Can Has $1.54 Million Position in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 100,478 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,783 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $1,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT in the 4th quarter valued at about $21,099,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.0% during the 4th 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 period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 118.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 422,361 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,273,000 after buying an additional 229,293 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,541 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,844,000. 89.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. 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, Apple Hospitality REIT currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

NYSE APLE opened at $11.87 on Friday. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $10.44 and a fifty-two week high of $16.50. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.97 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a current ratio of 0.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.73.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. The firm had revenue of $333.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.11 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.08%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is 109.09%.

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.