Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $249.06.

HLT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $275.00 to $245.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Hilton Worldwide in a report on Monday, June 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $282.00 price objective on the stock. Macquarie lowered their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $245.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $242.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $235.00 price objective (down previously from $296.00) on shares of Hilton Worldwide in a report on Monday, April 14th.

Hilton Worldwide Price Performance

HLT opened at $265.87 on Friday. Hilton Worldwide has a fifty-two week low of $196.04 and a fifty-two week high of $275.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $244.31 and a 200-day moving average of $243.54. The company has a market capitalization of $63.20 billion, a PE ratio of 41.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.24.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.11. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 49.50% and a net margin of 13.90%. The company had revenue of $2.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.73 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hilton Worldwide will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is presently 9.46%.

Institutional Trading of Hilton Worldwide

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,115,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,714,938,000 after acquiring an additional 104,802 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,898,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,952,314,000 after acquiring an additional 919,424 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,225,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,786,151,000 after acquiring an additional 142,620 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,910,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,456,893,000 after acquiring an additional 67,292 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Hilton Worldwide by 8.1% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,836,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,100,530,000 after acquiring an additional 364,307 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.90% of the company’s stock.

About Hilton Worldwide

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc, a hospitality company, engages in managing, franchising, owning, and leasing hotels and resorts. It operates through two segments, Management and Franchise, and Ownership. The company engages in the hotel management and licensing of its brands. It operates luxury hotels under the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, LXR Hotels & Resorts, and Conrad Hotels & Resorts brand; lifestyle hotels under the Canopy by Hilton, Curio Collection by Hilton, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Tempo by Hilton, and Motto by Hilton brand; full service hotels under the Signia by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and DoubleTree by Hilton brand; service hotels under the Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton by Hilton, and Tru by Hilton brand; all-suite hotels under the Embassy Suites by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and Home2 Suites by Hilton brand; and economy hotel under the Spark by Hilton brand, as well as Hilton Grand Vacations.