InterContinental Hotels Group (NYSE:IHG) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (NYSE:IHG) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $112.68, but opened at $108.43. InterContinental Hotels Group shares last traded at $108.15, with a volume of 54,652 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IHG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on InterContinental Hotels Group in a research report on Monday, February 24th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded InterContinental Hotels Group from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered InterContinental Hotels Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

InterContinental Hotels Group Stock Down 2.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $17.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.45.

InterContinental Hotels Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $1.144 dividend. This is an increase from InterContinental Hotels Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.4%. InterContinental Hotels Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On InterContinental Hotels Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IHG. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its position in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 13.7% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 2,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 13.8% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 25.2% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 12,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,347,000 after buying an additional 2,456 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 5.7% in the third quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 17,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,905,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 5.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,387,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $705,758,000 after buying an additional 351,723 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.09% of the company’s stock.

About InterContinental Hotels Group

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC owns, manages, franchises, and leases hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Greater China. The company operates hotels under the Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Vignette Collection, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, voco, HUALUXE, Crowne Plaza, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, EVEN, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, Garner, avid hotels, Atwell Suites, Staybridge Suites, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Candlewood Suites brand names.