Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) SVP Simone Wu Sells 7,840 Shares

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) SVP Simone Wu sold 7,840 shares of Choice Hotels International stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.08, for a total transaction of $1,019,827.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,940,623.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Choice Hotels International Price Performance

CHH traded up $0.42 on Monday, hitting $130.45. 51,620 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 509,210. The business has a 50-day moving average of $125.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.77. Choice Hotels International, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.91 and a 12 month high of $134.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 177.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.25.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $435.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $438.29 million. Choice Hotels International had a net margin of 15.42% and a negative return on equity of 3,953.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.75 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Choice Hotels International, Inc. will post 6.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Choice Hotels International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Choice Hotels International’s payout ratio is presently 24.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CHH. StockNews.com downgraded Choice Hotels International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Choice Hotels International from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Susquehanna initiated coverage on shares of Choice Hotels International in a research note on Friday, June 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Choice Hotels International from $137.00 to $134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Choice Hotels International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.25.

Institutional Trading of Choice Hotels International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CHH. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 77.2% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,105,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,590,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788,563 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,738,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,957,000 after buying an additional 195,956 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 941,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,046,000 after buying an additional 8,033 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 144.2% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 939,114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,402,000 after buying an additional 554,479 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 4.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 675,142 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,340,000 after acquiring an additional 26,289 shares during the last quarter. 65.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Choice Hotels International

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.