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

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) announced a monthly dividend on Friday, June 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.08 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th.

Apple Hospitality REIT has a payout ratio of 124.7% 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 Performance

Apple Hospitality REIT stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $11.59. 6,321,174 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,341,772. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.57. Apple Hospitality REIT has a fifty-two week low of $10.44 and a fifty-two week high of $16.50. The stock has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.67 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 5.84% and a net margin of 13.38%. The company had revenue of $327.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $332.86 million. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, BMO Capital Markets cut Apple Hospitality REIT from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $12.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $15.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Glade M. Knight purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $11.43 per share, with a total value of $114,300.00. Following the acquisition, the chairman now owns 700,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,004,931.92. This trade represents a 1.45% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have purchased 12,000 shares of company stock worth $137,120. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 114.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 136,046 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 72,553 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 10,235.7% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 21,705 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 21,495 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 5.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 137,557 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,776,000 after buying an additional 6,788 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 2.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 170,862 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,205,000 after buying an additional 4,712 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 10.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,588 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company's stock.

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.