Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $532,000 in Hyatt Hotels Corporation $H

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 3,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $532,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 248,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,083,000 after acquiring an additional 32,048 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,715,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,221,000 after acquiring an additional 843,121 shares in the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,067,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 17.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 147,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,911,000 after acquiring an additional 22,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 80,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,397,000 after acquiring an additional 3,387 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on H shares. Wall Street Zen raised Hyatt Hotels from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Hyatt Hotels in a research note on Friday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Hyatt Hotels from $186.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Mizuho upped their target price on Hyatt Hotels from $219.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Hyatt Hotels from $167.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hyatt Hotels has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $188.00.

Hyatt Hotels Price Performance

H stock opened at $181.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $161.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $160.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $17.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -517.62 and a beta of 1.33. Hyatt Hotels Corporation has a 1 year low of $127.54 and a 1 year high of $188.50.

Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.74 billion. Hyatt Hotels had a positive return on equity of 6.01% and a negative net margin of 0.48%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hyatt Hotels Corporation will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hyatt Hotels Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Hyatt Hotels’s payout ratio is -171.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hyatt Hotels news, insider David Udell sold 8,682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $1,493,304.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 13,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,294,136. The trade was a 39.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cary D. Mcmillan sold 1,119 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.96, for a total value of $195,780.24. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 225,154 shares of company stock worth $37,804,562 in the last three months. 23.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hyatt Hotels Company Profile

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) is a global hospitality company that develops, owns, manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts and vacation properties. Its portfolio spans a range of price points and styles under brands such as Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Andaz, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Centric, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Thompson Hotels, Alila and Destination by Hyatt. In addition to accommodations, the company provides meeting and event spaces, food and beverage outlets, spa and wellness centers, and a variety of guest services designed to cater to both leisure and business travelers.

Hyatt’s business model combines property ownership, management contracts and third-party franchising.