Short Interest in InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (NYSE:IHG) Increases By 75.4%

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (NYSE:IHG) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 774,000 shares, an increase of 75.4% from the February 13th total of 441,400 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 181,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days. Approximately 0.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 5.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,387,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $705,758,000 after purchasing an additional 351,723 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in InterContinental Hotels Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $13,796,000. ABC Arbitrage SA bought a new position in InterContinental Hotels Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,846,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 241.2% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 127,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,965,000 after purchasing an additional 90,339 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $86,000. Institutional investors own 15.09% of the company’s stock.

InterContinental Hotels Group Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:IHG traded up $2.30 on Friday, reaching $113.69. 162,271 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 169,081. InterContinental Hotels Group has a twelve month low of $91.57 and a twelve month high of $137.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $127.42 and a 200-day moving average of $120.03. The company has a market capitalization of $17.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.33.

InterContinental Hotels Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Friday, April 4th will be paid a $1.144 dividend. This represents a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 4th. This is an increase from InterContinental Hotels Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.53. InterContinental Hotels Group’s payout ratio is 18.79%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on IHG. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of InterContinental Hotels Group from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered InterContinental Hotels Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on InterContinental Hotels Group in a research note on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

About InterContinental Hotels Group

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC owns, manages, franchises, and leases hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Greater China. The company operates hotels under the Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Vignette Collection, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, voco, HUALUXE, Crowne Plaza, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, EVEN, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, Garner, avid hotels, Atwell Suites, Staybridge Suites, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Candlewood Suites brand names.