Short Interest in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Expands By 6.8%

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,690,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the October 15th total of 10,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.5 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple Hospitality REIT

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APLE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,555,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $582,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,217,142 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 17.2% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,019,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $87,518,000 after purchasing an additional 881,217 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 400.8% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 638,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,286,000 after purchasing an additional 511,100 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 911.1% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 388,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,648,000 after purchasing an additional 350,000 shares during the period. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3,768.4% during the second quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 348,156 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,062,000 after purchasing an additional 339,156 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

APLE stock traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.41. 380,303 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,047,610. The company has a quick ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 52 week low of $13.60 and a 52 week high of $17.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.26 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $378.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is presently 112.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com lowered Apple Hospitality REIT from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (up from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.50.

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.