Stock Buyback Plan Initiated by Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH)

Key Points

• Wyndham Hotels & Resorts approved a $400 million stock repurchase plan, authorizing the company to buy back up to 7.6% of its outstanding shares through open-market purchases.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive view of the stock, with eight Buy ratings and five Holds. MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $95.64, compared with a recent trading price of $72.48.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, equivalent to $1.72 annually and a 2.4% yield. Its latest quarterly earnings of $1.48 per share exceeded estimates, although revenue fell 5.5% year over year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH - Get Free Report) declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 29th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on WH. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $100.00 to $97.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Susquehanna cut their target price on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $95.64.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

WH stock traded up $1.65 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $72.48. 1,351,880 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,191,827. The company has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.39. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has a twelve month low of $66.87 and a twelve month high of $90.35.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $375.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $400.75 million. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 14.67% and a return on equity of 74.22%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.710-4.830 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts will post 4.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Geoffrey Ballotti sold 19,414 shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.71, for a total transaction of $1,411,591.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 549,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,941,275.33. This trade represents a 3.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.33% of the company's stock.

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a global hotel franchising company that provides branding, marketing, reservation, loyalty and other support services to independently owned and operated hotels. Its portfolio is focused primarily on the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry.

The company's brand portfolio includes well-known names such as Wyndham, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, La Quinta, Travelodge, Baymont, Microtel, Wingate, AmericInn, Econo Lodge, Howard Johnson, Dolce and Registry Collection Hotels.

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