Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT) Raises Dividend to $0.09 Per Share

Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, June 4th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.09 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.01%. This is a 350.0% increase from Chatham Lodging Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02.

Chatham Lodging Trust has a payout ratio of 720.0% 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 Chatham Lodging Trust to earn $1.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.1%.

Chatham Lodging Trust Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:CLDT opened at $7.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $351.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.30 and a beta of 1.42. Chatham Lodging Trust has a 12 month low of $5.83 and a 12 month high of $10.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.13 by $0.01. Chatham Lodging Trust had a negative net margin of 0.99% and a negative return on equity of 0.39%. The firm had revenue of $68.64 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $67.99 million. Analysts expect that Chatham Lodging Trust will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CLDT. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Chatham Lodging Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Alliance Global Partners reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Chatham Lodging Trust in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Chatham Lodging Trust from $11.00 to $9.50 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th.

Chatham Lodging Trust declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 6th that authorizes the company to buyback $25.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 7.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Chatham Lodging Trust

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Chatham Lodging Trust by 6.6% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 289,534 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,064,000 after buying an additional 18,030 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Chatham Lodging Trust by 26.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 193,422 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 40,746 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Chatham Lodging Trust by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 98,409 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 25,926 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Chatham Lodging Trust in the first quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Chatham Lodging Trust during the first quarter worth $61,000. 88.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Chatham Lodging Trust

Chatham Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused primarily on investing in upscale, extended-stay hotels and premium-branded, select-service hotels. The company owns 39 hotels totaling 5,915 rooms/suites in 16 states and the District of Columbia.