DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) Shares Acquired by Man Group plc

Man Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) by 256.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 178,566 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 128,411 shares during the period. Man Group plc’s holdings in DiamondRock Hospitality were worth $1,612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FIL Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality during the fourth quarter worth about $60,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in DiamondRock Hospitality by 278.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 9,769 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 7,189 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP purchased a new position in DiamondRock Hospitality in the fourth quarter worth approximately $92,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in DiamondRock Hospitality by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 3,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in DiamondRock Hospitality in the fourth quarter worth approximately $117,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $9.50 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on DiamondRock Hospitality from $10.00 to $9.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on DiamondRock Hospitality from $10.50 to $9.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on DiamondRock Hospitality from $8.00 to $8.25 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.04.

DiamondRock Hospitality Stock Down 0.7%

DRH stock opened at $7.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. DiamondRock Hospitality has a twelve month low of $6.19 and a twelve month high of $10.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $7.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.33.

DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.02. DiamondRock Hospitality had a net margin of 6.30% and a return on equity of 4.25%. The company had revenue of $254.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that DiamondRock Hospitality will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

DiamondRock Hospitality Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. This is a boost from DiamondRock Hospitality’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. DiamondRock Hospitality’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 177.78%.

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.