Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Stake in Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH – Get Rating) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 314,321 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,474 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.59% of Choice Hotels International worth $34,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,458,000 after buying an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Choice Hotels International by 12.1% in the third quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 460,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,521,000 after purchasing an additional 49,653 shares during the period. Delphia USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Choice Hotels International during the third quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al lifted its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 17.3% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 68,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,487,000 after purchasing an additional 10,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 32,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,542,000 after purchasing an additional 4,544 shares in the last quarter. 58.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Choice Hotels International from $107.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Redburn Partners assumed coverage on shares of Choice Hotels International in a research report on Wednesday, November 30th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Choice Hotels International from $129.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Choice Hotels International from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 5th. 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 an average target price of $122.00.

Choice Hotels International Stock Down 2.6 %

CHH opened at $114.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.15, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $121.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.70. Choice Hotels International, Inc. has a twelve month low of $104.15 and a twelve month high of $150.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.76.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.08 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $362.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $356.74 million. Choice Hotels International had a net margin of 23.69% and a return on equity of 99.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 27.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Choice Hotels International, Inc. will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Choice Hotels International Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 3rd will be issued a $0.287 dividend. This is an increase from Choice Hotels International’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 31st. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. Choice Hotels International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 65,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.06, for a total transaction of $7,835,475.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 364,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,793,445.78. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Simone Wu sold 6,342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.04, for a total value of $793,003.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 39,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,894,940.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 65,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.06, for a total value of $7,835,475.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 364,763 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,793,445.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 88,307 shares of company stock valued at $10,691,003. Insiders own 20.84% of the company’s stock.

Choice Hotels International Company Profile

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Choice Hotels International, Inc engages in the franchising and operations of hotels. It operates through Hotel Franchising, and Corporate and Other segments. The Hotel Franchising segment refers to the hotel franchising operations consisting of the company’s several hotel brands. The Corporate and Other segment deals with hotel revenues and rental income related to office buildings owned by the company.