Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Position in Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH – Get Rating) by 40.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,534 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,092 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Choice Hotels International were worth $497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Choice Hotels International by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,221,517 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,682,000 after buying an additional 9,932 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Choice Hotels International by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,860,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,500,000 after buying an additional 46,819 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Choice Hotels International by 51.6% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,740,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,722,000 after buying an additional 592,654 shares in the last quarter. Rock Creek Group LP increased its stake in Choice Hotels International by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rock Creek Group LP now owns 1,109,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,862,000 after buying an additional 202,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 894,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,007,000 after purchasing an additional 49,022 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Choice Hotels International

In related news, Director Brian Bainum sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.44, for a total value of $3,673,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,738,158.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Brian Bainum sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.44, for a total value of $3,673,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 14,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,738,158.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Simone Wu sold 6,342 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.82, for a total transaction of $766,240.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 39,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,729,740.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 20.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CHH. Barclays lowered their target price on Choice Hotels International from $108.00 to $107.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 8th. StockNews.com began coverage on Choice Hotels International in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Choice Hotels International from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 5th. Redburn Partners started coverage on Choice Hotels International in a report on Wednesday, November 30th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Choice Hotels International in a report on Monday, December 5th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $137.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $120.75.

Choice Hotels International Stock Down 1.5 %

NYSE:CHH opened at $124.05 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $117.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.31. Choice Hotels International, Inc. has a 52 week low of $104.15 and a 52 week high of $153.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.26.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 7th. The company reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by ($0.19). Choice Hotels International had a return on equity of 87.75% and a net margin of 25.72%. The firm had revenue of $414.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $374.90 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Choice Hotels International, Inc. will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Choice Hotels International Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.237 per share. This represents a $0.95 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 30th. Choice Hotels International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.63%.

About Choice Hotels International

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Choice Hotels International, Inc engages in the franchising and operations of hotels. It operates through Hotel Franchising, and Corporate and Other segments. The Hotel Franchising segment refers to the hotel franchising operations consisting of the company’s several hotel brands. The Corporate and Other segment deals with hotel revenues and rental income related to office buildings owned by the company.