Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 30,348 Shares of Travel + Leisure Co. $TNL

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Travel + Leisure Co. by 19.3% in the first quarter, owning approximately 0.28% of the company valued at $8.69 million.
• Insiders sold a total of 320,174 shares of the company's stock worth nearly $20 million in the last quarter, with insiders currently holding 3.75% of the stock.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.56 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 3.7%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL - Free Report) by 19.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,823 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 30,348 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.28% of Travel + Leisure worth $8,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TNL. Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in shares of Travel + Leisure by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 1,576 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Travel + Leisure by 8.1% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Travel + Leisure by 3.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Travel + Leisure by 54.0% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,166 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Travel + Leisure by 26.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,044 shares of the company's stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.54% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Thomas Michael Duncan sold 8,201 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.24, for a total value of $510,430.24. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,244,800. The trade was a 29.08% 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. Also, insider Geoffrey Richards sold 124,454 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.56, for a total transaction of $7,785,842.24. Following the transaction, the insider owned 118,718 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,426,998.08. The trade was a 51.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 320,174 shares of company stock worth $19,765,874 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 3.75% of the company's stock.

Travel + Leisure Stock Up 5.2%

Shares of NYSE:TNL traded up $3.1080 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.3680. 945,786 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 706,994. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 1.43. Travel + Leisure Co. has a fifty-two week low of $37.77 and a fifty-two week high of $63.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.55.

Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Travel + Leisure's revenue for the quarter was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Travel + Leisure Co. will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Travel + Leisure Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Travel + Leisure's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on TNL shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Travel + Leisure from $39.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho raised Travel + Leisure from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on Travel + Leisure from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Travel + Leisure from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.30.

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.