Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.12 EPS

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 94.46% and a net margin of 11.15%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. Hilton Worldwide’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Hilton Worldwide Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Hilton Worldwide stock traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $204.34. 852,229 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,486,569. The company has a 50 day moving average of $205.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.32. Hilton Worldwide has a fifty-two week low of $134.43 and a fifty-two week high of $215.79. The stock has a market cap of $51.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.25.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Hilton Worldwide’s dividend payout ratio is 13.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HLT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $157.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. HSBC upped their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $219.00 to $254.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Hilton Worldwide from $212.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hilton Worldwide presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.33.

Insider Transactions at Hilton Worldwide

In related news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 21,489 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $195.68, for a total value of $4,204,967.52. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,536,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,338,015.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.50% 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.