Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) Plans $0.29 Quarterly Dividend

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 11th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.2875 per share on Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%.

Choice Hotels International has increased its dividend by an average of 72.3% per year over the last three years. Choice Hotels International has a payout ratio of 16.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Choice Hotels International to earn $7.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.15 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.1%.

Choice Hotels International Stock Performance

NYSE CHH traded up $1.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $145.59. 273,413 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 463,844. Choice Hotels International has a 1 year low of $108.91 and a 1 year high of $153.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 177.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $129.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.23.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $2.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.31. Choice Hotels International had a net margin of 16.27% and a negative return on equity of 659.01%. The company had revenue of $428.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $432.62 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Choice Hotels International will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on CHH shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Choice Hotels International in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $133.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Choice Hotels International from $134.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Choice Hotels International from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Choice Hotels International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.27.

Insider Activity

In other Choice Hotels International news, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 7,192 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.95, for a total transaction of $1,042,480.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 404,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,656,336.70. The trade was a 1.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Simone Wu sold 7,840 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.08, for a total transaction of $1,019,827.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,940,623.52. The trade was a 14.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 61,412 shares of company stock valued at $8,582,271. Insiders own 24.02% of the company’s stock.

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.