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

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.15%. 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. 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 Up 1.8 %

Apple Hospitality REIT stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $15.61. The stock had a trading volume of 5,723,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,032,749. 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 $17.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 1.13.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $378.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $377.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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