Millstone Evans Group LLC Acquires New Position in Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH)

Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHH. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in Choice Hotels International by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Choice Hotels International by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC grew its position in Choice Hotels International by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 4,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 4,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.57% of the company’s stock.

Choice Hotels International Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Choice Hotels International stock opened at $129.65 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.81, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.25. Choice Hotels International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.22 and a 1 year high of $157.86. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $143.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.58.

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

Choice Hotels International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Choice Hotels International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on CHH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Choice Hotels International from $150.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Choice Hotels International from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Susquehanna upped their target price on Choice Hotels International from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Choice Hotels International from $136.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $141.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Dominic Dragisich sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.30, for a total transaction of $519,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,797.90. This trade represents a 4.83 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Scott E. Oaksmith sold 1,780 shares of Choice Hotels International stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.40, for a total transaction of $257,032.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,622,821.60. This trade represents a 5.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 24.02% of the company’s stock.

Choice Hotels International Company Profile

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.