RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Apple Hospitality REIT Inc. (APLE) on Thursday reported a key measure of profitability in its third quarter. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations.

The real estate investment trust, based in Richmond, Virginia, said it had funds from operations of $76.1 million, or 33 cents per share, in the period.

The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 30 cents per share.

Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.

The company said it had net income of $31.8 million, or 14 cents per share.

The hotel-owning real estate investment trust posted revenue of $277.2 million in the period, also surpassing Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $252 million.

The company's shares have climbed 27% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Thursday, shares hit $16.45, a climb of 54% in the last 12 months.

This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on APLE at https://www.zacks.com/ap/APLE

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