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

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 7.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 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 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. 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 1.0 %

NYSE APLE opened at $12.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12 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 has a 12 month low of $12.76 and a 12 month high of $16.51. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $14.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.06.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $333.04 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.11 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.53% and a return on equity of 6.17%. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research note on Monday, December 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple Hospitality REIT presently 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.