DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) Short Interest Down 21.4% in January

DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,800,000 shares, a decrease of 21.4% from the December 31st total of 20,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.5 days. Currently, 7.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DiamondRock Hospitality

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 104,965 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,652 shares during the last quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in DiamondRock Hospitality by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Vert Asset Management LLC now owns 82,570 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 35.1% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,153 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in DiamondRock Hospitality by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 68,728 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $600,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 39,187 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 3,027 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DRH. StockNews.com raised shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI cut DiamondRock Hospitality from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $10.50 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $10.75 to $10.25 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.25.

DiamondRock Hospitality Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DRH traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $8.84. The stock had a trading volume of 488,592 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,551,072. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 1.59. DiamondRock Hospitality has a 12-month low of $7.74 and a 12-month high of $10.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

DiamondRock Hospitality Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.49%. This is a positive change from DiamondRock Hospitality’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. DiamondRock Hospitality’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.86%.

About DiamondRock Hospitality

DiamondRock Hospitality Company is a self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) that is an owner of a leading portfolio of geographically diversified hotels concentrated in leisure destinations and top gateway markets. The Company currently owns 36 premium quality hotels with over 9,700 rooms. The Company has strategically positioned its portfolio to be operated both under leading global brand families as well as independent boutique hotels in the lifestyle segment.