Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) CEO Geoffrey Ballotti Sells 19,295 Shares of Company Stock

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) CEO Geoffrey Ballotti sold 19,295 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.69, for a total value of $1,421,848.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 550,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,563,176.33. The trade was a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

Shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts stock traded up $0.45 on Monday, reaching $76.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,609,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,311,175. The company has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.67. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has a 52-week low of $66.87 and a 52-week high of $90.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $72.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.07. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 74.22% and a net margin of 14.67%. The business had revenue of $375.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $400.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.710-4.830 EPS. Analysts expect that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts will post 4.81 EPS for the current year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, September 29th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is presently 63.24%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WH. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 14.2% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,858 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 1.7% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 18,153 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,475,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 2.7% in the first quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 15,472 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 93.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on WH. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $91.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Freedom Broker initiated coverage on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $88.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.08.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a global hotel franchising company that provides lodging brands, operating support and related services to hotel owners and operators. Rather than owning and managing most of its properties directly, the company primarily operates an asset-light franchise model in which independent hotel owners use Wyndham’s brands, reservation systems, marketing programs, technology and operational resources.

The company’s portfolio spans economy and midscale lodging, as well as select upscale and extended-stay concepts.