Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $238.24.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HLT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $219.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $208.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $210.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st.

Hilton Worldwide Price Performance

Shares of Hilton Worldwide stock opened at $246.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.14. Hilton Worldwide has a fifty-two week low of $178.23 and a fifty-two week high of $259.01. The firm has a market cap of $60.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.90, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.30.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 60.85% and a net margin of 10.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hilton Worldwide will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.88%.

Hilton Worldwide declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, November 14th that permits the company to buyback $3.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hilton Worldwide

In other news, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total transaction of $5,880,287.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 22,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,746,152.78. This trade represents a 50.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after buying an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Hilton Worldwide by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in Hilton Worldwide in the third quarter valued at approximately $631,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,090,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,012,069,000 after purchasing an additional 121,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Hilton Worldwide during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $765,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

Hilton Worldwide Company Profile

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc, a hospitality company, engages in managing, franchising, owning, and leasing hotels and resorts. It operates through two segments, Management and Franchise, and Ownership. The company engages in the hotel management and licensing of its brands. It operates luxury hotels under the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, LXR Hotels & Resorts, and Conrad Hotels & Resorts brand; lifestyle hotels under the Canopy by Hilton, Curio Collection by Hilton, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Tempo by Hilton, and Motto by Hilton brand; full service hotels under the Signia by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and DoubleTree by Hilton brand; service hotels under the Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton by Hilton, and Tru by Hilton brand; all-suite hotels under the Embassy Suites by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and Home2 Suites by Hilton brand; and economy hotel under the Spark by Hilton brand, as well as Hilton Grand Vacations.