Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Short interest fell 17.6% in April to 5,989,730 shares (8.2% of shares outstanding) with a short-interest ratio of 5.5 days, signaling reduced bearish positioning in WYNDHAM (WH).
• Wyndham beat quarterly estimates, reporting $0.96 EPS vs. $0.85 expected and $327M revenue vs. $319.6M, and set FY2026 guidance of $4.620–4.800 EPS (consensus ~4.84).
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.43 (annualized $1.72, ~2.1% yield) while insiders sold shares (e.g., General Counsel sold 19,800), and institutional ownership remains high at 93.46%.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,989,730 shares, a decline of 17.6% from the March 31st total of 7,268,950 shares. Currently, 8.2% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,089,487 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WH has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $98.00 price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.09.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NYSE:WH traded down $1.68 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $82.41. 1,365,740 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,347,141. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.37, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $81.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.94. The company has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a PE ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.69. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has a 12 month low of $69.21 and a 12 month high of $92.68.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $327.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $319.56 million. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 13.51% and a return on equity of 64.18%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.620-4.800 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts will post 4.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 20th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 20th. This is a boost from Wyndham Hotels & Resorts's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts's payout ratio is presently 69.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Paul F. Cash sold 19,800 shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.09, for a total transaction of $1,506,582.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 27,912 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,123,824.08. This trade represents a 41.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Scott R. Strickland sold 6,500 shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.36, for a total transaction of $522,340.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 43,639 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,506,830.04. This represents a 12.96% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.33% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 15,472 shares of the company's stock worth $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the 1st quarter worth about $281,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,622 shares of the company's stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its position 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. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC grew its position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 177.2% in the 1st quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 18,926 shares of the company's stock worth $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 12,098 shares in the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc NYSE: WH is a leading global hospitality company specializing in hotel franchising and management. Established in 2018 through the spin-off of Wyndham Hotel Group from Wyndham Worldwide, the company focuses on the development, marketing and distribution of hotel brands designed to meet the needs of business and leisure travelers. Its core business model centers on franchising agreements, enabling third-party hotel owners to operate under the Wyndham portfolio while accessing the company's centralized services and support.

The company's brand portfolio spans economy, midscale and upper-midscale segments, featuring well-known names such as Wyndham, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Microtel Inn & Suites, and La Quinta by Wyndham.

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