Lightrock Netherlands B.V. Invests $4.71 Million in DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH)

Lightrock Netherlands B.V. purchased a new position in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 518,688 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $4,707,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRH. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality during the 4th quarter worth about $857,000. Advisors Preferred LLC acquired a new position in DiamondRock Hospitality in the 4th quarter worth about $4,131,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in DiamondRock Hospitality by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 40,047 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 6,882 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in DiamondRock Hospitality by 458.3% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,300,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067,497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanderbilt University grew its holdings in DiamondRock Hospitality by 126.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanderbilt University now owns 33,091 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 18,504 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $10.50 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded DiamondRock Hospitality from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered DiamondRock Hospitality from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $10.75 to $10.25 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, DiamondRock Hospitality presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $10.25.

DiamondRock Hospitality Stock Performance

Shares of DRH opened at $8.58 on Tuesday. DiamondRock Hospitality has a 1 year low of $7.74 and a 1 year high of $10.00. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $9.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.78 billion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a PEG ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 1.57.

DiamondRock Hospitality Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from DiamondRock Hospitality’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.93%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. DiamondRock Hospitality’s payout ratio is 42.86%.

DiamondRock Hospitality Profile

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.