Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) Stock Price

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $134.00 to $141.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

CHH has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Choice Hotels International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut Choice Hotels International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $150.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Choice Hotels International from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $113.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Choice Hotels International from $105.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.00.

Choice Hotels International Price Performance

CHH stock opened at $144.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 177.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $133.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.22. Choice Hotels International has a 12-month low of $108.91 and a 12-month high of $149.75.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.92 by $0.31. Choice Hotels International had a negative return on equity of 659.01% and a net margin of 16.27%. The business had revenue of $428.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $432.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Choice Hotels International will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Choice Hotels International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Choice Hotels International’s payout ratio is presently 22.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 7,192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.95, for a total transaction of $1,042,480.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 404,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,656,336.70. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 7,192 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.95, for a total transaction of $1,042,480.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 404,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $58,656,336.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dominic Dragisich sold 9,138 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.88, for a total transaction of $1,232,533.44. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,240,493.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 71,437 shares of company stock valued at $9,788,980 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 24.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Choice Hotels International

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 17.8% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 34,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,993,000 after acquiring an additional 5,156 shares in the last quarter. Twin Tree Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Choice Hotels International in the first quarter worth about $6,248,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 161.3% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 6,384 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 7.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,738,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,957,000 after acquiring an additional 195,956 shares during the period. Finally, &PARTNERS purchased a new position in Choice Hotels International during the second quarter valued at approximately $366,000. Institutional investors own 65.57% of the company’s stock.

About Choice Hotels International

Choice Hotels International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a hotel franchisor in the United States and internationally. It operates through Hotel Franchising & Management and Corporate & Other segments. The company franchises lodging properties under the brand names of Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Clarion Pointe, Sleep Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, MainStay Suites, Suburban Studios, WoodSpring Suites, Everhome Suites, Cambria Hotels, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Radisson Inn & Suites, Park Inn by Radisson, Radisson Individuals, and Radisson Collection.