Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $150.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on CHH. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $144.00 to $134.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Choice Hotels International from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, July 19th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Choice Hotels International from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird set a $138.00 target price on shares of Choice Hotels International in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Choice Hotels International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $128.78.

Choice Hotels International Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CHH opened at $144.91 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $132.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.68. The stock has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. Choice Hotels International has a fifty-two week low of $108.91 and a fifty-two week high of $149.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 177.75.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $2.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.31. Choice Hotels International had a net margin of 16.27% and a negative return on equity of 659.01%. The company had revenue of $428.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $432.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Choice Hotels International will post 6.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Choice Hotels International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 1st were given a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Choice Hotels International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Choice Hotels International news, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 10,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.37, for a total transaction of $1,206,709.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 404,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,709,646.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Choice Hotels International news, SVP Simone Wu sold 7,840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.08, for a total transaction of $1,019,827.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,940,623.52. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 10,025 shares of Choice Hotels International stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.37, for a total value of $1,206,709.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 404,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,709,646.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 64,245 shares of company stock worth $8,746,500. Corporate insiders own 24.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 34,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,993,000 after buying an additional 5,156 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 62.8% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 21,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,778,000 after buying an additional 8,485 shares during the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Choice Hotels International during the 1st quarter worth $6,248,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Choice Hotels International by 161.3% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 6,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Choice Hotels International by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,738,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,957,000 after purchasing an additional 195,956 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.