InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (NYSE:IHG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (NYSE:IHG) have been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on IHG. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded InterContinental Hotels Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of InterContinental Hotels Group from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of InterContinental Hotels Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Societe Generale lowered InterContinental Hotels Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in InterContinental Hotels Group by 41.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 632,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,546,000 after purchasing an additional 185,045 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its position in InterContinental Hotels Group by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 617,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,265,000 after purchasing an additional 40,358 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 617,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,123,000 after purchasing an additional 12,902 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 18.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 121,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,865,000 after purchasing an additional 18,716 shares during the period. Finally, Henry James International Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Henry James International Management Inc. now owns 107,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,071,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares in the last quarter. 15.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

InterContinental Hotels Group Stock Performance

NYSE IHG opened at $98.35 on Friday. InterContinental Hotels Group has a one year low of $65.22 and a one year high of $112.08. The company has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.08.

InterContinental Hotels Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th will be given a $1.04 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 1.4%. This is an increase from InterContinental Hotels Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 4th. InterContinental Hotels Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.17%.

About InterContinental Hotels Group

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC owns, manages, franchises, and leases hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Greater China. The company operates hotels under the Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Vignette Collection, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, voco, HUALUXE, Crowne Plaza, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, EVEN, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, Garner, avid hotels, Atwell Suites, Staybridge Suites, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Candlewood Suites brand names.