Intercontinental Hotels Group (NYSE:IHG) Upgraded by Morgan Stanley to Equal Weight Rating

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Intercontinental Hotels Group (NYSE:IHG) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

IHG has been the subject of several other research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Intercontinental Hotels Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Intercontinental Hotels Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Intercontinental Hotels Group has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

Intercontinental Hotels Group Stock Performance

IHG opened at $121.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.54 billion, a PE ratio of 21.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $120.22 and a 200-day moving average of $115.45. Intercontinental Hotels Group has a 52-week low of $94.78 and a 52-week high of $137.25.

Intercontinental Hotels Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a $0.566 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a dividend yield of 140.0%. Intercontinental Hotels Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.04%.

Institutional Trading of Intercontinental Hotels Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Hotels Group by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 717,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,644,000 after acquiring an additional 19,467 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Hotels Group by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 668,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,310,000 after acquiring an additional 16,461 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Hotels Group by 125.7% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 451,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,113,000 after acquiring an additional 251,647 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Hotels Group by 98.4% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 355,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,044,000 after acquiring an additional 176,502 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Intercontinental Hotels Group by 170.5% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 305,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,444,000 after acquiring an additional 192,342 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 15.09% of the company’s stock.

About Intercontinental Hotels Group

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC owns, manages, franchises, and leases hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Greater China. The company operates hotels under the Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Vignette Collection, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, voco, HUALUXE, Crowne Plaza, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, EVEN, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, Garner, avid hotels, Atwell Suites, Staybridge Suites, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Candlewood Suites brand names.