Insider Selling: Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) CFO Sells 2,000 Shares of Stock

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) CFO Scott Oaksmith sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.35, for a total value of $240,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 31,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,751,550.20. This trade represents a 6.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Choice Hotels International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CHH traded down $2.84 during trading on Thursday, hitting $117.49. 133,127 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 625,183. The company has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.14, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.65. Choice Hotels International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.04 and a 1 year high of $123.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $104.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.52, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.29 by $0.04. Choice Hotels International had a net margin of 12.65% and a return on equity of 216.71%. The business had revenue of $458.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $447.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Choice Hotels International, Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Choice Hotels International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 1st were issued a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 1st. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Choice Hotels International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.24%.

Institutional Trading of Choice Hotels International

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Choice Hotels International by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 21,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,215,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Choice Hotels International during the third quarter worth about $210,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 2.2% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 14,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,478,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 4.5% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 4.8% during the third quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 4,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CHH shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Choice Hotels International from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Choice Hotels International from $92.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Choice Hotels International from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho assumed coverage on Choice Hotels International in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $106.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wedbush set a $130.00 price target on Choice Hotels International in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $114.86.

Choice Hotels International Company Profile

Choice Hotels International, Inc is a global lodging franchisor that licenses its hotel brands to independent owners and operators. The company supports its franchisees through brand standards, reservation and distribution systems, marketing, loyalty programs, technology, and operational services rather than primarily owning and operating hotels itself.

Its portfolio includes brands serving a range of price points and travel needs, including Comfort, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Econo Lodge, MainStay Suites, Suburban Studios, WoodSpring Suites, Cambria Hotels, and the Ascend Hotel Collection.