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

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) declared a monthly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.08 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.22%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st.

Apple Hospitality REIT has raised its dividend payment by an average of 188.5% annually over the last three years. Apple Hospitality REIT has a payout ratio of 112.9% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research 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 %

NYSE APLE opened at $13.31 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.09. Apple Hospitality REIT has a one year low of $13.01 and a one year high of $16.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 1.12. 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 results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. The business had revenue of $333.04 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.11 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets started 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple Hospitality REIT currently has an average 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.