Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.24

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 7th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.237 per share on Tuesday, January 17th. This represents a $0.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 30th.

Choice Hotels International has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. Choice Hotels International has a dividend payout ratio of 16.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Choice Hotels International to earn $5.79 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.95 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.4%.

Choice Hotels International Price Performance

CHH opened at $119.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.25. Choice Hotels International has a 1 year low of $104.15 and a 1 year high of $157.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $120.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $118.30.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 7th. The company reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.19). Choice Hotels International had a net margin of 25.72% and a return on equity of 87.75%. The firm had revenue of $414.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.51 EPS. Choice Hotels International’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Choice Hotels International will post 5.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on CHH shares. Redburn Partners started coverage on Choice Hotels International in a research report on Wednesday, November 30th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Choice Hotels International from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Choice Hotels International from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Monday, August 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Choice Hotels International from $129.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Choice Hotels International from $117.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $120.75.

Insider Transactions at Choice Hotels International

In related news, SVP Simone Wu sold 6,342 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.82, for a total transaction of $766,240.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,147 shares in the company, valued at $4,729,740.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Simone Wu sold 6,342 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.82, for a total transaction of $766,240.44. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,147 shares in the company, valued at $4,729,740.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Brian Bainum sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.44, for a total value of $3,673,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,196 shares in the company, valued at $1,738,158.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 49,788 shares of company stock worth $6,067,739. Company insiders own 20.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Choice Hotels International

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CHH. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 51.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,740,428 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,722,000 after purchasing an additional 592,654 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 116.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 627,869 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,006,000 after purchasing an additional 337,252 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 604.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 364,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,947,000 after purchasing an additional 312,978 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 121.0% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 133,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,925,000 after purchasing an additional 73,100 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 193.5% in the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 80,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,465,000 after purchasing an additional 53,320 shares during the period. 61.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Choice Hotels International

(Get Rating)

Choice Hotels International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a hotel franchisor worldwide. The company operates in Hotel Franchising and Corporate & Other segments. It franchises lodging properties under the brand names of Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Clarion Pointe, Sleep Inn, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, WoodSpring Suites, Everhome Suites, Cambria Hotels, and Ascend Hotel Collection.