DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) Short Interest Update

DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 18,390,000 shares, a growth of 9.5% from the January 15th total of 16,800,000 shares. Currently, 9.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 8.5 days.

DiamondRock Hospitality Stock Up 0.5 %

DRH stock opened at $8.59 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.85. DiamondRock Hospitality has a 52-week low of $7.74 and a 52-week high of $10.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 1.57.

DiamondRock Hospitality Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from DiamondRock Hospitality’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. DiamondRock Hospitality’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DiamondRock Hospitality

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRH. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,535,384 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $109,806,000 after acquiring an additional 221,219 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 9,153,018 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $79,906,000 after purchasing an additional 317,901 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,651,539 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $78,123,000 after buying an additional 323,745 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 8,576,077 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $77,442,000 after buying an additional 1,201,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in DiamondRock Hospitality by 78.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 6,953,022 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $62,786,000 after acquiring an additional 3,064,117 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $10.75 to $10.25 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on DiamondRock Hospitality from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI lowered shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $10.50 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, DiamondRock Hospitality presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $10.25.

DiamondRock Hospitality Company Profile

DiamondRock Hospitality Company is a self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) that is an owner of a leading portfolio of geographically diversified hotels concentrated in leisure destinations and top gateway markets. The Company currently owns 36 premium quality hotels with over 9,700 rooms. The Company has strategically positioned its portfolio to be operated both under leading global brand families as well as independent boutique hotels in the lifestyle segment.