Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) in a research note released on Sunday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $87.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $88.17.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

NYSE WH traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $74.89. 705,771 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 692,264. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.80 and a 200-day moving average of $76.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has a one year low of $63.69 and a one year high of $81.73. The stock has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.33.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.03. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 17.19% and a return on equity of 41.83%. The company had revenue of $305.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.24 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts will post 4.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.38 dividend. This is an increase from Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.90%.

Insider Transactions at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

In other news, CEO Geoffrey A. Ballotti sold 196,279 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.36, for a total transaction of $14,399,027.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 377,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,708,952.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Geoffrey A. Ballotti sold 196,279 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.36, for a total value of $14,399,027.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 377,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,708,952.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Nicola Rossi sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.00, for a total value of $252,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 11,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,916. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.79% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,011,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 150.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,001,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,812,000 after buying an additional 3,002,259 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 31.5% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 77,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,371,000 after buying an additional 18,511 shares in the last quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 53.3% in the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 66,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,649,000 after acquiring an additional 23,253 shares during the period. Finally, LRT Capital Management LLC increased its position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 31.2% during the third quarter. LRT Capital Management LLC now owns 66,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,632,000 after acquiring an additional 15,843 shares during the period. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc operates as a hotel franchisor in the United States and internationally. It operates through Hotel Franchising and Hotel Management segments. The Hotel Franchising segment licenses its lodging brands and provides related services to third-party hotel owners and others.