Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH) Short Interest Update

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,480,000 shares, a drop of 21.8% from the February 13th total of 3,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 853,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $99.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $107.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $113.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.45.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Stock Up 2.6 %

NYSE:WH traded up $2.34 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $91.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 646,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 786,180. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has a 1 year low of $67.67 and a 1 year high of $113.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $103.82 and a 200-day moving average of $94.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.72.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 20.51% and a return on equity of 54.86%. Equities research analysts forecast that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. This is an increase from Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is 45.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WH. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 24,953.8% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,333,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328,292 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter worth approximately $104,774,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 404.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,213,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,261,000 after buying an additional 972,708 shares during the period. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,738,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 40.8% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,747,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,533,000 after buying an additional 506,593 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

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.