Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) Short Interest Up 16.4% in February

Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,560,000 shares, an increase of 16.4% from the February 13th total of 1,340,000 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 591,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Michael Dean Brown acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $46.66 per share, with a total value of $93,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 408,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,070,221.96. This represents a 0.49 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director George Herrera sold 6,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.80, for a total transaction of $296,524.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,121.20. This represents a 69.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Travel + Leisure

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp purchased a new position in shares of Travel + Leisure in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Travel + Leisure by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Travel + Leisure by 314.4% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares during the period. Natixis purchased a new position in shares of Travel + Leisure in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of Travel + Leisure by 36.9% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. 87.54% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Travel + Leisure Stock Down 0.9 %

TNL opened at $47.55 on Friday. Travel + Leisure has a 52-week low of $39.91 and a 52-week high of $58.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $53.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.68. The company has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.61.

Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. Travel + Leisure had a net margin of 10.63% and a negative return on equity of 45.75%. The company had revenue of $971.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $958.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. Travel + Leisure’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Travel + Leisure will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Travel + Leisure Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This is an increase from Travel + Leisure’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Travel + Leisure’s payout ratio is currently 38.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TNL shares. Bank of America raised shares of Travel + Leisure from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Travel + Leisure from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Travel + Leisure from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Travel + Leisure from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Travel + Leisure from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Travel + Leisure has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $63.70.

Travel + Leisure Company Profile

Travel + Leisure Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides hospitality services and travel products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Vacation Ownership; and Travel and Membership. The Vacation Ownership segment develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership interests (VOIs) to individual consumers, as well as provides consumer financing in connection with the sale of VOIs; and property management services at resorts.