Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 148,804 Shares of Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,405,283 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 148,804 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 2.33% of Hyatt Hotels worth $313,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Procyon Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 2,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 8,189 shares of the company's stock worth $1,068,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 13,912 shares of the company's stock worth $1,814,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its stake in Hyatt Hotels by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,934 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in Hyatt Hotels by 9.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 2,655 shares of the company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.02% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on H. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $95.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Hyatt Hotels from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Hyatt Hotels from $197.00 to $195.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Hyatt Hotels from $153.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hyatt Hotels from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hyatt Hotels currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.56.

Hyatt Hotels Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE H traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $152.20. 594,400 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 576,291. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.40 billion, a PE ratio of 23.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 21.71 and a beta of 1.49. Hyatt Hotels Co. has a 52-week low of $96.77 and a 52-week high of $161.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.60. The business's fifty day moving average price is $154.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $135.32.

Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.02). Hyatt Hotels had a return on equity of 8.47% and a net margin of 10.21%. The company had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 EPS. Analysts forecast that Hyatt Hotels Co. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

Hyatt Hotels Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 29th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 28th. Hyatt Hotels's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.32%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder F.L.P. Trust #14 sold 1,283,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.96, for a total transaction of $200,096,680.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Mark Samuel Hoplamazian sold 75,457 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.47, for a total transaction of $11,957,670.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 459,000 shares in the company, valued at $72,737,730. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder F.L.P. Trust #14 sold 1,283,000 shares of Hyatt Hotels stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.96, for a total transaction of $200,096,680.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,084,248 shares of company stock valued at $326,572,489 over the last 90 days. 23.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Hyatt Hotels

Hyatt Hotels Corporation operates as a hospitality company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Owned and Leased Hotels, Americas Management and Franchising, ASPAC Management and Franchising, EAME Management and Franchising, and Apple Leisure Group segments. The company manages, franchises, licenses, owns, and leases portfolio of properties, consisting of full-service hotels and resorts, select service hotels, and other properties, including timeshare, fractional, residential, vacation, and condominium units.