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

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, July 18th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st.

Apple Hospitality REIT has a payout ratio of 109.1% indicating that 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 $1.40 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 68.6%.

Apple Hospitality REIT Trading Up 2.4 %

Apple Hospitality REIT stock opened at $14.99 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Hospitality REIT has a 52 week low of $13.95 and a 52 week high of $17.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.42.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $329.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $324.68 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 6.11% and a net margin of 14.58%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Apple Hospitality REIT

In related news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $14.78 per share, for a total transaction of $73,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 631,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,340,812.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on APLE. Wedbush initiated coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.40.

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.