Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) Given Average Rating of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Choice Hotels International has received an average rating of "Reduce" from brokerages, with five analysts recommending a sell and two recommending a buy.
• The company reported $1.92 EPS for the recent quarter, exceeding estimates but showing a 2.0% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.2875 per share has been announced, representing an annual yield of 1.1%.

Shares of Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Reduce" by the fourteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $127.9231.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CHH shares. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Choice Hotels International from $160.00 to $149.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Choice Hotels International in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Bank of America lowered Choice Hotels International from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $110.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Choice Hotels International from $117.00 to $101.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday.

Insider Activity at Choice Hotels International

In other news, EVP Dominic Dragisich sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.45, for a total value of $341,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 68,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,330,587.45. This trade represents a 3.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 23.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Choice Hotels International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CHH. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Choice Hotels International in the first quarter worth $49,799,000. Bamco Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 6.8% during the second quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 4,990,652 shares of the company's stock worth $633,214,000 after acquiring an additional 317,618 shares in the last quarter. Rock Creek Group LP raised its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 52.3% during the second quarter. Rock Creek Group LP now owns 811,579 shares of the company's stock worth $102,973,000 after acquiring an additional 278,715 shares in the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Choice Hotels International during the first quarter worth $25,673,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 194.8% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 237,097 shares of the company's stock worth $30,083,000 after acquiring an additional 156,666 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.57% of the company's stock.

Choice Hotels International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CHH opened at $103.85 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $117.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.30. The firm has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 7.66 and a beta of 0.83. Choice Hotels International has a 1 year low of $103.72 and a 1 year high of $157.86.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $426.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $430.13 million. Choice Hotels International had a negative return on equity of 575.73% and a net margin of 19.52%.The company's revenue was down 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Choice Hotels International will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Choice Hotels International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 1st will be given a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 1st. Choice Hotels International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.69%.

About Choice Hotels International

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.

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