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

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) announced a monthly dividend on Thursday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, January 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st.

Apple Hospitality REIT has decreased its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years. Apple Hospitality REIT has a dividend 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. Equities 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 0.6%

Shares of APLE stock opened at $12.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.00. Apple Hospitality REIT has a twelve month low of $10.44 and a twelve month high of $16.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77 and a beta of 0.83.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $373.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $371.94 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a return on equity of 5.46% and a net margin of 12.37%. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple Hospitality REIT

In other news, Chairman Glade M. Knight acquired 5,000 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.91 per share, with a total value of $59,550.00. Following the purchase, the chairman directly owned 710,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,460,197.04. The trade was a 0.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $95,180. Company insiders own 7.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple Hospitality REIT

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Apple Hospitality REIT by 8.7% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 127,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,640,000 after acquiring an additional 10,219 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,267,201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,360,000 after purchasing an additional 50,991 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 180,412 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,329,000 after buying an additional 1,782 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 12.4% in the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 80,669 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 8,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 81,208 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,048,000 after buying an additional 3,810 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

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.