Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately positive: Eight of 13 analysts rate Wyndham Hotels & Resorts a buy, while five recommend holding the stock. The average 12-month price target is $95.64 versus a recent price of about $72.
• Wyndham exceeded quarterly EPS expectations at $1.48 versus the $1.41 consensus, though revenue fell 5.5% year over year to $375 million and missed estimates.
• The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.43 per share, yielding approximately 2.4%, and authorized a $400 million share-repurchase program covering up to 7.6% of outstanding shares.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $95.64.

Several analysts have recently commented on WH shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $104.00 to $102.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Truist Financial cut their price target on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $107.00 to $104.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Trading Down 0.7%

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts stock opened at $72.12 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.26 and a 200 day moving average of $78.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.67. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has a 12-month low of $66.87 and a 12-month high of $90.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53.

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

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.24%.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 29th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Geoffrey Ballotti sold 19,414 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.71, for a total value of $1,411,591.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 549,323 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,941,275.33. The trade was a 3.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 2.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WH. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the second quarter worth $623,573,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,188,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $392,024,000 after acquiring an additional 583,967 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,371,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,379,000 after acquiring an additional 29,422 shares during the last quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP bought a new stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the 2nd quarter valued at $100,648,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. lifted its stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 229.3% in the 1st quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 957,559 shares of the company's stock worth $77,783,000 after purchasing an additional 666,746 shares in the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a global hotel franchising company that provides lodging brands, operating support and related services to hotel owners and operators. Rather than owning and managing most of its properties directly, the company primarily operates an asset-light franchise model in which independent hotel owners use Wyndham's brands, reservation systems, marketing programs, technology and operational resources.

The company's portfolio spans economy and midscale lodging, as well as select upscale and extended-stay concepts.

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