Chatham Lodging Hikes Dividend 14%

(RTTNews) - Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT) said Wednesday that its board of trustees has voted to raise the dividend by 14% to an annual rate of $0.96 per share.

Chatham's board has declared a monthly common share dividend of $0.08 for April 2014, payable on May 30 to shareholders of record on April 30.

Jeffrey Fisher, Chatham's chief executive officer and president, said, "We have increased our annual dividend each year since our IPO in 2010, a testament to the continued successful execution of our plan. We have grown our annual dividend from $0.35 in 2010 now to an annual rate of $0.96 per share, an increase of almost 175 percent."

"The annual rate of $0.96 per share equates to a FFO per share payout ratio of 55 percent, so our dividend is well covered. We maintain an active pipeline, and our balance sheet is in great shape to make additional investments which means we have the ability to grow our EBITDA, FFO per share and dividends further in the future," said Fisher.