Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:XHR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

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

Xenia Hotels & Resorts Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:XHR traded down $0.10 on Tuesday, hitting $12.21. 599,556 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 818,242. Xenia Hotels & Resorts has a 1-year low of $8.55 and a 1-year high of $16.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a PE ratio of 55.50 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a current ratio of 1.95. The firm's 50-day moving average is $11.37 and its 200 day moving average is $13.11.

Xenia Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:XHR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $288.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $276.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Xenia Hotels & Resorts will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Xenia Hotels & Resorts announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, May 14th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 8.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Xenia Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Xenia Hotels & Resorts's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 254.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Xenia Hotels & Resorts

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Xenia Hotels & Resorts by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,362,156 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $35,102,000 after purchasing an additional 30,186 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Xenia Hotels & Resorts by 17.8% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,126,198 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $25,004,000 after buying an additional 321,343 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Xenia Hotels & Resorts by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,788,688 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $26,580,000 after buying an additional 126,193 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Xenia Hotels & Resorts by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,671,155 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $24,833,000 after buying an additional 455,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Xenia Hotels & Resorts by 258.8% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,655,365 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $24,599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193,990 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.43% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XHR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Xenia Hotels & Resorts from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Xenia Hotels & Resorts from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Xenia Hotels & Resorts from $18.00 to $17.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Xenia Hotels & Resorts from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Xenia Hotels & Resorts from $11.00 to $9.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.50.

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.

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