Hersha Hospitality Trust reinstates dividend

On September 19, 2022, Hersha Hospitality Trust (HT) announced a $0.05 per share quarterly dividend. This will be the first dividend by HT since the REIT suspended its quarterly dividend in 2020. Previously the owner of high-quality upscale and lifestyle hotels in urban gateway markets and resort destinations had been paying a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share since 2014.

Hersha Hospitality Trust, owner of luxury and lifestyle hotels in coastal gateway and resort markets, announced its Board of Trustees has approved a cash dividend of $0.05 per common share and per limited partnership unit for the third quarter ending September 30, 2022. These common share dividends and limited partnership unit distributions are payable October 17, 2022, to holders of record as of September 30, 2022. A 20 cent per share annual dividend will yield 2% at a stock price of $10 for HT.

Mr. Jay H. Shah, Hersha’s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “I am pleased to announce that our Board of Trustees has reinstated the Company’s quarterly cash dividend as a result of the continued strong performance of our portfolio and the transformative transactions we have completed this year. As we highlighted in our latest investor materials, our streamlined portfolio is operating at pre-COVID levels, and we have rightsized the balance sheet with our credit facility refinancing and proceeds from our recent strategic dispositions. This decision to resume our quarterly cash dividend on the common shares reflects our confidence in the ability of Hersha’s differentiated and experiential luxury and lifestyle portfolio, along with its unique New York City cluster, to continue its outperformance.”

Hersha Hospitality Trust (HT) is a self-advised real estate investment trust in the hospitality sector, which owns and operates high quality upscale hotels in urban gateway markets. The company's hotels are located in New York, Washington, DC, Boston, Philadelphia, South Florida and select markets on the West Coast. Prior to the 2020 dividend suspension Hersha Hospitality Trust had paid a dividend every year since 1999. In 2022 a quarterly dividend was reinstated.