Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Invests $440,000 in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 30,250 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $440,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,260,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,555,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $582,400,000 after buying an additional 1,217,142 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC grew its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 11.3% in the first quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 347,717 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,696,000 after acquiring an additional 35,166 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Apple Hospitality REIT during the first quarter worth about $338,000. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 186,232 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,436 shares in the last quarter. 89.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 5,000 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $14.04 per share, for a total transaction of $70,200.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 636,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,943,339.60. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 0.8 %

APLE opened at $14.28 on Friday. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a twelve month low of $13.60 and a twelve month high of $17.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.39 and a 200-day moving average of $14.94. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $390.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $388.82 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 14.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is 111.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on APLE shares. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.25.

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.