Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 59.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 17,850 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 23,056 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 5,157 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 18,970 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 5,920 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 11.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,737,959 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $100,059,000 after buying an additional 718,844 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT during the third quarter worth $526,000. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 267,395 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,971,000 after buying an additional 6,304 shares during the period. 89.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on APLE. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 price target (up from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Apple Hospitality REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.50.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

NYSE APLE opened at $15.53 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.04 and a 200-day moving average of $14.66. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.60 and a 52-week high of $17.90.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.22). Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. The business had revenue of $378.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.18%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is 112.94%.

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.