Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. Plans Monthly Dividend of $0.08 (NYSE:APLE)

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) announced a monthly dividend on Friday, March 21st, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Apple Hospitality REIT has raised its dividend by an average of 188.5% per year over the last three years. Apple Hospitality REIT has a dividend payout ratio of 112.9% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Analysts expect Apple Hospitality REIT to earn $1.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 59.3%.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.31. The company had a trading volume of 2,403,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,938,760. The company’s 50-day moving average is $14.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.10. Apple Hospitality REIT has a twelve month low of $13.02 and a twelve month high of $16.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.04 and a quick ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 1.12.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. The company had revenue of $333.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.11 million. Analysts anticipate that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APLE has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $16.80.

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.