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

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) announced a monthly dividend on Tuesday, January 21st,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.08 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st.

Apple Hospitality REIT has increased its dividend payment by an average of 188.5% annually over the last three years. Apple Hospitality REIT has a dividend payout ratio of 110.3% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities analysts expect Apple Hospitality REIT to earn $1.63 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 58.9%.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock opened at $15.19 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86 and a beta of 1.13. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 52 week low of $13.60 and a 52 week high of $16.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $15.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a current ratio of 0.04.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $377.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on APLE. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $18.00 target price (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple Hospitality REIT has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.