Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (APLE) to Issue Monthly Dividend of $0.08 on April 15th

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.47%. 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% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. 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 1.0 %

Shares of APLE opened at $12.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.12 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $14.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.06. Apple Hospitality REIT has a fifty-two week low of $12.76 and a fifty-two week high of $16.51. 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $333.04 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $330.11 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.17% and a net margin of 14.53%. Analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on APLE shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America raised shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Monday, December 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.