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

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, December 19th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st.

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. Equities analysts expect Apple Hospitality REIT to earn $1.65 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 58.2%.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Performance

Apple Hospitality REIT stock opened at $15.44 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.94. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $13.60 and a fifty-two week high of $17.08. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.16 and a beta of 1.13.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $378.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.56 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target (up previously from $17.00) on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Monday, December 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $16.80.

Apple Hospitality REIT Company Profile

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.