Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H) Short Interest Down 10.3% in October

Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,510,000 shares, a decrease of 10.3% from the October 15th total of 5,030,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 528,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on H. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Hyatt Hotels from $160.00 to $150.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $200.00 to $198.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Macquarie cut their target price on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $165.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $141.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Hyatt Hotels to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $151.57.

Insider Activity at Hyatt Hotels

In other news, insider Mark Samuel Hoplamazian sold 51,388 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.77, for a total transaction of $7,696,380.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 623,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,389,982.12. This trade represents a 7.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 23.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hyatt Hotels

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in H. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hyatt Hotels during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in Hyatt Hotels during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt purchased a new stake in Hyatt Hotels in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 190.2% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in Hyatt Hotels during the first quarter worth approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.02% of the company’s stock.

Hyatt Hotels Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE H traded down $0.57 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $152.15. The stock had a trading volume of 204,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 584,824. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.06 and a 200-day moving average of $149.20. The firm has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Hyatt Hotels has a fifty-two week low of $112.85 and a fifty-two week high of $162.24.

Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. Hyatt Hotels had a return on equity of 10.74% and a net margin of 20.55%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Hyatt Hotels will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Hyatt Hotels Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Hyatt Hotels’s dividend payout ratio is presently 4.52%.

Hyatt Hotels Company Profile

Hyatt Hotels Corporation operates as a hospitality company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Owned and Leased Hotels, Americas Management and Franchising, ASPAC Management and Franchising, EAME Management and Franchising, and Apple Leisure Group segments. The company manages, franchises, licenses, owns, and leases portfolio of properties, consisting of full-service hotels and resorts, select service hotels, and other properties, including timeshare, fractional, residential, vacation, and condominium units.