Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a sell rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on CHH. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $114.00 to $112.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $137.00 to $134.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Susquehanna began coverage on shares of Choice Hotels International in a report on Friday, June 21st. They issued a neutral rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Choice Hotels International from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $127.25.

Choice Hotels International Trading Up 0.4 %

CHH opened at $127.70 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $125.22 and its 200-day moving average is $121.46. Choice Hotels International has a 1-year low of $108.91 and a 1-year high of $134.44. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 177.75. The company has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.25.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by ($0.02). Choice Hotels International had a net margin of 15.42% and a negative return on equity of 3,953.67%. The company had revenue of $435.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $438.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Choice Hotels International will post 6.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Choice Hotels International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.2875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Choice Hotels International’s payout ratio is 24.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.37, for a total transaction of $1,206,709.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 404,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,709,646.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 10,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.37, for a total transaction of $1,206,709.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 404,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,709,646.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Patrick Cimerola sold 13,259 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.08, for a total transaction of $1,658,435.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 23,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,934,501.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,401 shares of company stock worth $4,497,556. 24.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Choice Hotels International

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CHH. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in Choice Hotels International by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 6,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in Choice Hotels International by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 20,940 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,492,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Choice Hotels International by 144.4% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its position in Choice Hotels International by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 1,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Choice Hotels International by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.57% of the company’s stock.

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.