Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) Receives $130.45 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $132.27.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CHH shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Choice Hotels International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $113.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Choice Hotels International in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $133.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Simone Wu sold 7,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.08, for a total value of $1,019,827.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 45,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,940,623.52. This represents a 14.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick Cimerola sold 1,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $231,390.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,441,340. This trade represents a 8.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,412 shares of company stock valued at $8,582,271. Corporate insiders own 24.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Choice Hotels International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHH. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Choice Hotels International by 77.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,105,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,590,000 after buying an additional 1,788,563 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Choice Hotels International during the 3rd quarter valued at $19,545,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Choice Hotels International by 917.2% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 161,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,254,000 after buying an additional 145,893 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Choice Hotels International by 45.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 364,983 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,557,000 after buying an additional 113,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Choice Hotels International by 51.5% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 266,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,767,000 after buying an additional 90,765 shares during the last quarter. 65.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Choice Hotels International Stock Performance

NYSE CHH opened at $146.37 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $142.22 and its 200-day moving average is $129.52. Choice Hotels International has a 12-month low of $108.91 and a 12-month high of $153.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 177.75. The firm has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.23.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.31. Choice Hotels International had a net margin of 16.27% and a negative return on equity of 659.01%. The company had revenue of $428.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $432.62 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Choice Hotels International will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Choice Hotels International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Choice Hotels International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.03%.

Choice Hotels International Company Profile

Choice Hotels International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a hotel franchisor in the United States and internationally. It operates through Hotel Franchising & Management and Corporate & Other segments. The company franchises lodging properties under the brand names of Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Clarion Pointe, Sleep Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, MainStay Suites, Suburban Studios, WoodSpring Suites, Everhome Suites, Cambria Hotels, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Radisson Inn & Suites, Park Inn by Radisson, Radisson Individuals, and Radisson Collection.