AQR Capital Management LLC Raises Stake in DINE BRANDS GLOBAL, INC. $DIN

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in DINE BRANDS GLOBAL, INC. (NYSE:DIN) by 74.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 235,221 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after buying an additional 100,580 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.51% of DINE BRANDS GLOBAL worth $5,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of DIN. Seven Six Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in DINE BRANDS GLOBAL in the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,475,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of DINE BRANDS GLOBAL during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,602,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in shares of DINE BRANDS GLOBAL by 670.2% during the first quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 127,451 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,966,000 after purchasing an additional 110,903 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of DINE BRANDS GLOBAL by 628.1% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 103,827 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $3,124,000 after purchasing an additional 89,567 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of DINE BRANDS GLOBAL by 7.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,043,716 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $24,287,000 after purchasing an additional 71,941 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.83% of the company’s stock.

DINE BRANDS GLOBAL Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:DIN opened at $23.93 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $23.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.44. DINE BRANDS GLOBAL, INC. has a 12 month low of $18.63 and a 12 month high of $37.44. The stock has a market cap of $368.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.98 and a beta of 1.05.

DINE BRANDS GLOBAL (NYSE:DIN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.32). DINE BRANDS GLOBAL had a negative return on equity of 31.66% and a net margin of 5.40%.The company had revenue of $230.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $222.69 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that DINE BRANDS GLOBAL, INC. will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

DINE BRANDS GLOBAL Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 19th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 19th. DINE BRANDS GLOBAL’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DIN has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on DINE BRANDS GLOBAL from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays dropped their price objective on DINE BRANDS GLOBAL from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised DINE BRANDS GLOBAL to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Vance Yuwen Chang acquired 2,340 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.10 per share, with a total value of $49,374.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 54,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,142,143. This represents a 4.52% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John W. Peyton acquired 4,523 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $22.11 per share, with a total value of $100,003.53. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 189,563 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,191,237.93. This trade represents a 2.44% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 4.56% of the company’s stock.

DINE BRANDS GLOBAL Company Profile

Dine Brands Global, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns, franchises, and operates restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company operates through six segments: Applebee's Franchise Operations, International House of Pancakes (IHOP) Franchise Solutions, Fuzzy's franchise operations, Rental Operations, Financing Operations, and Company-Operated Restaurant Operations.