Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) by 87.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,010,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 6,920,924 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.49% of DiamondRock Hospitality worth $9,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in DRH. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in DiamondRock Hospitality by 35.1% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,153 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the period. abrdn plc lifted its position in DiamondRock Hospitality by 10.1% during the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 45,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 4,131 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in DiamondRock Hospitality during the third quarter valued at $74,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in DiamondRock Hospitality by 12.3% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 36,160 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 5.1% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 96,917 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $846,000 after acquiring an additional 4,678 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DRH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on DiamondRock Hospitality from $10.50 to $9.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded DiamondRock Hospitality from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $10.75 to $10.25 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded DiamondRock Hospitality from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI downgraded DiamondRock Hospitality from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $10.50 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, November 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, DiamondRock Hospitality has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.05.

DiamondRock Hospitality Price Performance

NYSE DRH opened at $8.21 on Friday. DiamondRock Hospitality has a one year low of $7.74 and a one year high of $10.00. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $8.78 and a 200 day moving average of $8.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73.

DiamondRock Hospitality Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. This is an increase from DiamondRock Hospitality’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. DiamondRock Hospitality’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.86%.

DiamondRock Hospitality Profile

DiamondRock Hospitality Company is a self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) that is an owner of a leading portfolio of geographically diversified hotels concentrated in leisure destinations and top gateway markets. The Company currently owns 36 premium quality hotels with over 9,700 rooms. The Company has strategically positioned its portfolio to be operated both under leading global brand families as well as independent boutique hotels in the lifestyle segment.