Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H) to Issue $0.15 Quarterly Dividend

Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 31st, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share on Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd.

Hyatt Hotels has raised its dividend by an average of 31.0% per year over the last three years. Hyatt Hotels has a payout ratio of 15.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Hyatt Hotels to earn $3.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.8%.

Hyatt Hotels Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:H traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $145.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 80,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 584,565. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Hyatt Hotels has a fifty-two week low of $96.77 and a fifty-two week high of $162.24. The company has a market capitalization of $14.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70 and a beta of 1.50.

Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Hyatt Hotels had a return on equity of 10.25% and a net margin of 14.55%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hyatt Hotels will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Hyatt Hotels

In other news, insider Mark Samuel Hoplamazian sold 51,388 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.77, for a total value of $7,696,380.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 623,556 shares in the company, valued at $93,389,982.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 23.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on H shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $127.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Hyatt Hotels from $160.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Hyatt Hotels from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Macquarie reduced their price objective on Hyatt Hotels from $168.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $152.43.

Hyatt Hotels Company Profile

Hyatt Hotels Corporation operates as a hospitality company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Owned and Leased Hotels, Americas Management and Franchising, ASPAC Management and Franchising, EAME Management and Franchising, and Apple Leisure Group segments. The company manages, franchises, licenses, owns, and leases portfolio of properties, consisting of full-service hotels and resorts, select service hotels, and other properties, including timeshare, fractional, residential, vacation, and condominium units.