Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 4,779 Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $635,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 66.2% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 256 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. bought a new position in Choice Hotels International in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 64.7% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 275 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 370 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 25.6% in the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 604 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CHH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Choice Hotels International from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the company from $141.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Choice Hotels International from $144.00 to $128.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Choice Hotels International in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Choice Hotels International from $160.00 to $149.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Choice Hotels International from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $134.08.

Insider Transactions at Choice Hotels International

In other Choice Hotels International news, EVP Dominic Dragisich sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.54, for a total transaction of $642,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 70,881 shares in the company, valued at $9,111,043.74. This represents a 6.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ervin R. Shames sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.56, for a total transaction of $259,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 52,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,764,586.72. The trade was a 3.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,906,520. 23.78% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Choice Hotels International Stock Performance

NYSE:CHH traded down $2.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $121.02. 326,264 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 412,101. Choice Hotels International, Inc. has a one year low of $116.20 and a one year high of $157.86. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $128.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $132.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.96.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $426.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $430.13 million. Choice Hotels International had a net margin of 19.52% and a negative return on equity of 575.73%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Choice Hotels International, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Choice Hotels International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st were paid a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 1st. Choice Hotels International's payout ratio is 17.56%.

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.