Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) Plans $0.29 Quarterly Dividend

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.2875 per share on Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st.

Choice Hotels International has increased its dividend by an average of 18.7% per year over the last three years. Choice Hotels International has a payout ratio of 15.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Choice Hotels International to earn $7.41 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.15 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.5%.

Choice Hotels International Price Performance

Shares of Choice Hotels International stock opened at $143.07 on Friday. Choice Hotels International has a 1-year low of $108.91 and a 1-year high of $157.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.69 billion, a PE ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.23.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $389.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $374.24 million. Choice Hotels International had a negative return on equity of 472.31% and a net margin of 18.91%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Choice Hotels International will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CHH. StockNews.com raised shares of Choice Hotels International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna increased their price target on Choice Hotels International from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Choice Hotels International from $134.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Choice Hotels International from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Dominic Dragisich sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.30, for a total value of $519,050.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,219,797.90. This trade represents a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 24.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Choice Hotels International

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.