Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH) Short Interest Update

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,170,000 shares, an increase of 37.8% from the January 31st total of 2,300,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 746,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Approximately 4.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 434.8% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 508.7% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 86.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

WH traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $105.39. 312,924 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 770,111. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has a 1-year low of $67.67 and a 1-year high of $113.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.61.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.04. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts had a net margin of 20.51% and a return on equity of 54.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. This is a boost from Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WH. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price target on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $105.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $113.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.45.

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc engages in the franchise and operation of hotels under the Wyndham brand. It operates through the Hotel Franchising and Hotel Management segments. The Hotel Franchising segment focuses on licensing the company’s lodging brands and providing related services to third-party hotel owners and others.