Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Thursday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on CHH. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Choice Hotels International from $134.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Choice Hotels International from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Choice Hotels International from $118.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Choice Hotels International from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Choice Hotels International from $113.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.92.

Choice Hotels International Stock Down 2.3 %

CHH opened at $143.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $145.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $139.05. Choice Hotels International has a fifty-two week low of $108.91 and a fifty-two week high of $157.86.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $389.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.24 million. Choice Hotels International had a negative return on equity of 472.31% and a net margin of 18.91%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Choice Hotels International will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Choice Hotels International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Choice Hotels International’s payout ratio is 18.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Choice Hotels International news, EVP Dominic Dragisich sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.30, for a total value of $519,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,219,797.90. The trade was a 4.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 24.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Choice Hotels International during the fourth quarter worth $48,201,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in shares of Choice Hotels International during the 3rd quarter worth about $19,545,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 69.8% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 292,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,577,000 after acquiring an additional 120,376 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 402,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,419,000 after acquiring an additional 111,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Choice Hotels International in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,354,000. Institutional investors own 65.57% of the company’s stock.

Choice Hotels International Company Profile

Choice Hotels International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a hotel franchisor in the United States and internationally. It operates through Hotel Franchising & Management and Corporate & Other segments. The company franchises lodging properties under the brand names of Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Clarion Pointe, Sleep Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, MainStay Suites, Suburban Studios, WoodSpring Suites, Everhome Suites, Cambria Hotels, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Radisson Inn & Suites, Park Inn by Radisson, Radisson Individuals, and Radisson Collection.