Sapient Capital LLC Buys Shares of 3,793 Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Choice Hotels International by 3.3% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 75,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,730,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 146.6% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 3,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $517,000 after purchasing an additional 2,170 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $385,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,583 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in Choice Hotels International by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 14,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,997,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Choice Hotels International from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $96.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Choice Hotels International from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Choice Hotels International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Choice Hotels International from $114.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $138.00 target price on shares of Choice Hotels International in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Choice Hotels International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.40.

Choice Hotels International Price Performance

CHH opened at $121.77 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 30.02, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $121.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 24.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.21. Choice Hotels International, Inc. has a 52-week low of $108.91 and a 52-week high of $136.02.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $358.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $369.44 million. Choice Hotels International had a return on equity of 594.23% and a net margin of 16.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Choice Hotels International, Inc. will post 6.45 EPS for the current year.

Choice Hotels International Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd will be given a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 1st. Choice Hotels International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.73%.

Choice Hotels International Company Profile

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.