Travel + Leisure Co. $TNL Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC significantly increased its holdings in Travel + Leisure Co. by 314.4%, acquiring an additional 31,387 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 41,369 shares valued at $1.91 million.
• Numerous institutional investors, including Nuveen LLC and LSV Asset Management, have also increased their stakes, indicating strong institutional interest in Travel + Leisure, which is now 87.54% owned by institutional investors.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share, which will be paid on September 30th, amounting to an annualized yield of 3.6%.

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL - Free Report) by 314.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,369 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 31,387 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Travel + Leisure worth $1,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Travel + Leisure in the 4th quarter worth $959,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Travel + Leisure in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,850,000. Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Travel + Leisure by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 16,439 shares of the company's stock valued at $829,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Travel + Leisure in the 4th quarter valued at about $383,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Travel + Leisure by 333.3% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,300 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 87.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on TNL shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Travel + Leisure from $39.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on Travel + Leisure from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho upgraded Travel + Leisure from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the company from $63.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Travel + Leisure from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.30.

Travel + Leisure Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:TNL traded up $0.61 during trading on Thursday, hitting $62.78. 318,588 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 694,437. Travel + Leisure Co. has a 12-month low of $37.77 and a 12-month high of $63.31. The company has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a PE ratio of 10.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $57.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.67.

Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.01). Travel + Leisure had a negative return on equity of 47.47% and a net margin of 10.14%.The company had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Travel + Leisure Co. will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travel + Leisure Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Travel + Leisure's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.62%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Thomas Michael Duncan sold 8,201 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.24, for a total transaction of $510,430.24. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,244,800. This represents a 29.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael Dean Brown bought 1,500 shares of Travel + Leisure stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $58.39 per share, for a total transaction of $87,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 427,821 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,980,468.19. This trade represents a 0.35% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 320,174 shares of company stock valued at $19,765,874. 3.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides hospitality services and travel products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Vacation Ownership; and Travel and Membership. The Vacation Ownership segment develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership interests (VOIs) to individual consumers, as well as provides consumer financing in connection with the sale of VOIs; and property management services at resorts.