Geoffrey A. Ballotti Sells 196,279 Shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH) Stock

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH) CEO Geoffrey A. Ballotti sold 196,279 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.36, for a total value of $14,399,027.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 377,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,708,952.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WH opened at $73.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a twelve month low of $63.69 and a twelve month high of $81.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $74.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.89. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.33.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.03. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 41.83% and a net margin of 17.19%. The company had revenue of $305.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.24 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a boost from Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WH. Barclays boosted their price objective on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a report on Sunday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WH. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 125,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,738,000 after purchasing an additional 47,280 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 25,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,987 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,159,000. Washington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts during the 3rd quarter worth about $584,000. Finally, Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. grew its holdings in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 105,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,365,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc operates as a hotel franchisor in the United States and internationally. It operates through Hotel Franchising and Hotel Management segments. The Hotel Franchising segment licenses its lodging brands and provides related services to third-party hotel owners and others.