Ashford Hospitality Trust Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of hotel-focused REIT Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYS: AHT) checked out this morning, leaving behind a 13.7% overnight price drop at the nadir.

So what: This one's a sector effect: Ashford doesn't have any terrible news of its own today, but fellow hotelier Summit Hotels (NYS: INN) just got a heavy-handed analyst downgrade based on middle-class spending concerns. FelCor Lodging Trust (NYS: FCH) also fell as much as 11.9%, and all three hospitality specialists are down by more than 20% over the last week.

Now what: This highly focused sector has seen its share of terrible earnings reports lately. Ashford got back to paying a relatively modest dividend this spring after a payout hiatus since 2008, FelCor is still holding back its formerly generous yield, and Summit is only getting started as a publicly traded dividend stock. If you're attracted to the payout requirements of a REIT, perhaps you'd be better off with one of these 13 stellar dividend payers.

Interested in more info on Ashford Hospitality Trust? Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Anders Bylund holds no position in any of the companies discussed here. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool is investors writing for investors.

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