Expedia Group’s (EXPE) Buy Rating Reiterated at B. Riley

B. Riley reiterated their buy rating on shares of Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. B. Riley currently has a $235.00 price objective on the online travel company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $220.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Expedia Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Expedia Group from $145.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Expedia Group in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Expedia Group from $208.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Melius raised shares of Expedia Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $187.93.

Expedia Group Price Performance

Shares of Expedia Group stock opened at $202.37 on Friday. Expedia Group has a 52 week low of $107.25 and a 52 week high of $205.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $182.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.59. The stock has a market cap of $25.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.82.

Expedia Group (NASDAQ:EXPE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The online travel company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by ($0.22). Expedia Group had a return on equity of 55.42% and a net margin of 9.01%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Expedia Group will post 10.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Expedia Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This is an increase from Expedia Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Expedia Group’s dividend payout ratio is 17.68%.

Insider Activity at Expedia Group

In related news, Director Dara Khosrowshahi sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.15, for a total transaction of $1,851,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 168,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,198,700.75. This represents a 5.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Lance A. Soliday sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.99, for a total transaction of $1,273,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 11,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,035,922.13. The trade was a 38.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,951 shares of company stock valued at $5,174,510. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Expedia Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 33.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 10,191 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $1,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Teamwork Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Expedia Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,791,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Expedia Group by 16.9% in the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 30,823 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $4,562,000 after acquiring an additional 4,449 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Expedia Group by 13.1% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 649,716 shares of the online travel company’s stock worth $96,171,000 after acquiring an additional 75,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new position in Expedia Group during the third quarter worth $527,000. 90.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Expedia Group

Expedia Group, Inc operates as an online travel company in the United States and internationally. The company operates through B2C, B2B, and trivago segments. Its B2C segment includes Brand Expedia, a full-service online travel brand offers various travel products and services; Hotels.com for lodging accommodations; Vrbo, an online marketplace for the alternative accommodations; Orbitz, Travelocity, Wotif Group, ebookers, CheapTickets, Hotwire.com and CarRentals.com.