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

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) declared a monthly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, 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 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 dividend 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. Equities 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 Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of APLE stock traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $13.31. 4,399,846 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,939,073. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.10. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 1-year low of $13.02 and a 1-year high of $16.83. The company has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 0.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $333.04 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $330.11 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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