Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (WH) will cut its quarterly dividend by 75.0 percent to 8 cents per share in the second quarter of 2020. Earlier this year the hotel company had raised its quarterly dividend by 10.3 percent to $0.32 per share, following a 16.0 percent dividend hike announced in 2019.

The next dividend of $0.08 per share is payable June 30, 2020 to shareholders of record as of June 15, 2020. A new annual dividend rate of 32 cents per share yields 0.8% at a stock price of $41.59.

In its press release announcing the lower dividend Wyndham does not announce the exact reason for the dividend cut, but it goes without saying that this is the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sector peers such as Hilton, Marriott International and many smaller hotel chains already scrapped their dividends at an earlier stage.

Because of this dividend cut Wyndham's track record of 10 consecutive years of dividend increases comes to an end. The company now pays about $30 million in dividends. The current market cap of the company is $3.87 billion with the stock price down 33% this year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is the world's largest hotel franchising company by the number of properties, with hotels across countries on six continents. Wyndham commands a leading presence in both the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry. The company operates a portfolio of 20 hotel brands, including Super 8, Days Inn, Ramada, Microtel Inn & Suites, La Quinta, Wingate, AmericInn, Hawthorn Suites, The Trademark Collection, and Wyndham. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is also a leading provider of hotel management services. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts was separated from Wyndham Worldwide (now Wyndham Destinations) in 2018.