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

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 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% meaning 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 Price Performance

NYSE APLE traded down $0.21 on Friday, reaching $13.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,399,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,939,073. Apple Hospitality REIT has a twelve month low of $13.02 and a twelve month high of $16.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.04 and a current ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $14.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.10.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $333.04 million during 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, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APLE has been the topic of several analyst 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 started coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Monday, December 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Bank of America upgraded Apple Hospitality REIT from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $16.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from 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.