The Dallas-based, self-advised REIT opened at $10.28 per share in today's NYSE trading. At last count, Ashford Hospitality had more than 25.7 million shares outstanding.
The REIT's IPO launched nearly six months ago with the acquisition of five hotels for $50 million, the first in a series of buys of what Ashford perceives as "distressed hotel properties" and the sellers tag as non-core. Ashford's bread-and-butter income is coming from repositioning hotels and mezzanine lending although it has incorporated sale/leasebacks and first mortgage financing into its business plan.
"The volume of direct hotel, mezzanine and first mortgage transactions completed since our initial public offering...and the strength of the existing investment pipeline have enabled us to pay our first dividend three months earlier than we had expected," Monty J. Bennett, president and CEO, said in a press release issued this morning in adjunct with the SEC filing. And, he added, the investment strategy is on track "to grow the dividend over the course of the year.
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