Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) Short Interest Down 9.3% in November

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,990,000 shares, a drop of 9.3% from the October 31st total of 5,500,000 shares. Approximately 19.5% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 321,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 15.5 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Choice Hotels International news, EVP Dominic Dragisich sold 9,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.88, for a total value of $1,232,533.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,240,493.92. This trade represents a 11.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 7,192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.95, for a total value of $1,042,480.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 404,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,656,336.70. This represents a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 71,437 shares of company stock worth $9,788,980. 24.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Choice Hotels International

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 161.3% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 6,384 shares during the period. &PARTNERS bought a new position in shares of Choice Hotels International in the second quarter worth approximately $366,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Choice Hotels International in the first quarter worth approximately $1,089,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of Choice Hotels International in the third quarter worth approximately $19,545,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Choice Hotels International in the third quarter worth approximately $42,280,000. 65.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CHH. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Choice Hotels International from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Choice Hotels International from $113.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Choice Hotels International from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on Choice Hotels International from $112.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Choice Hotels International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Choice Hotels International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.00.

Choice Hotels International Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE CHH traded down $0.85 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $149.74. 203,655 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 468,871. Choice Hotels International has a 52-week low of $108.91 and a 52-week high of $153.81. The firm has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 177.75, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $428.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $432.62 million. Choice Hotels International had a net margin of 16.27% and a negative return on equity of 659.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Choice Hotels International will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Choice Hotels International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Choice Hotels International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.03%.

Choice Hotels International Company Profile

Choice Hotels International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a hotel franchisor in the United States and internationally. It operates through Hotel Franchising & Management and Corporate & Other segments. The company franchises lodging properties under the brand names of Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Clarion Pointe, Sleep Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, MainStay Suites, Suburban Studios, WoodSpring Suites, Everhome Suites, Cambria Hotels, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Radisson Inn & Suites, Park Inn by Radisson, Radisson Individuals, and Radisson Collection.