Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) Short Interest Up 12.7% in January

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,450,000 shares, an increase of 12.7% from the December 31st total of 7,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,760,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.8 days. Currently, 3.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on APLE. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Bank of America raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.60.

Institutional Trading of Apple Hospitality REIT

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 127.5% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,302 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 40.4% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,712 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 7,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 1,831 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 9,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 2,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Down 0.7 %

APLE traded down $0.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $15.33. The company had a trading volume of 1,769,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,734,699. The business has a 50-day moving average of $15.53 and a 200-day moving average of $15.06. The company has a market cap of $3.68 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04 and a beta of 1.13. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 1-year low of $13.60 and a 1-year high of $16.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.04.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.22). Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $378.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $377.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Apple Hospitality REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.