Merit Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 2,401 Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 173,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,533,000 after acquiring an additional 25,702 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter valued at $248,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 24,953.8% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,333,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,328,292 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 851,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,870,000 after purchasing an additional 8,129 shares during the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Wyndham Hotels & Resorts news, CEO Geoffrey A. Ballotti sold 26,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.56, for a total value of $2,306,824.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 461,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,936,706.56. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 2.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WH opened at $81.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.72. The stock has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.88. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.08 and a 1-year high of $113.07.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $316.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $320.10 million. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 20.51% and a return on equity of 54.86%. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $124.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $80.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $121.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.48.

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc engages in the franchise and operation of hotels under the Wyndham brand. It operates through the Hotel Franchising and Hotel Management segments. The Hotel Franchising segment focuses on licensing the company’s lodging brands and providing related services to third-party hotel owners and others.