Short Interest in Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:XHR) Expands By 30.1%

Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:XHR - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, an increase of 30.1% from the May 15th total of 2,720,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 985,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days. Currently, 3.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Xenia Hotels & Resorts

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in Xenia Hotels & Resorts by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 27,543 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Xenia Hotels & Resorts by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,099 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its stake in Xenia Hotels & Resorts by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 11,696 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Xenia Hotels & Resorts by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 153,705 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Xenia Hotels & Resorts by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 8,817 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 1,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.43% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on XHR. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Xenia Hotels & Resorts from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Xenia Hotels & Resorts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $18.00 to $10.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Xenia Hotels & Resorts from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Xenia Hotels & Resorts from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.50.

Xenia Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

XHR traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $12.27. The company had a trading volume of 2,564,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 825,892. The company has a quick ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $11.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.06. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.78 and a beta of 1.66. Xenia Hotels & Resorts has a 1 year low of $8.55 and a 1 year high of $16.50.

Xenia Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:XHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.09. Xenia Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 1.80% and a net margin of 2.19%. The business had revenue of $288.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $276.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Xenia Hotels & Resorts will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Xenia Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Xenia Hotels & Resorts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 254.55%.

Xenia Hotels & Resorts announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 14th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to reacquire up to 8.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

About Xenia Hotels & Resorts

Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of investment in luxury and upper upscale hotels and resorts. It also owns a diversified portfolio of lodging properties operated by Marriott, Kimpton, Hyatt, Aston, Fairmong, and Loews. The company was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Orlando, FL.