Short Interest in Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) Grows By 16.4%

Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,560,000 shares, an increase of 16.4% from the February 13th total of 1,340,000 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 591,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Travel + Leisure Stock Performance

Shares of TNL stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $48.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 49,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,595. Travel + Leisure has a 52 week low of $39.91 and a 52 week high of $58.95. The company has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 8.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.70.

Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. Travel + Leisure had a negative return on equity of 45.75% and a net margin of 10.63%. The business had revenue of $971.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $958.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Travel + Leisure will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Travel + Leisure Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.64%. This is a positive change from Travel + Leisure’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Travel + Leisure’s payout ratio is presently 38.36%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael Dean Brown acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $46.66 per share, with a total value of $93,320.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 408,706 shares in the company, valued at $19,070,221.96. The trade was a 0.49 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Travel + Leisure

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp bought a new stake in Travel + Leisure in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Travel + Leisure by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Travel + Leisure by 314.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Natixis bought a new stake in Travel + Leisure during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Travel + Leisure by 36.9% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 757 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. 87.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on TNL. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price objective (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Travel + Leisure in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Travel + Leisure from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Travel + Leisure from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Travel + Leisure from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised Travel + Leisure from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, January 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Travel + Leisure has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.70.

About Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides hospitality services and travel products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Vacation Ownership; and Travel and Membership. The Vacation Ownership segment develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership interests (VOIs) to individual consumers, as well as provides consumer financing in connection with the sale of VOIs; and property management services at resorts.