Short Interest in Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) Drops By 15.6%

Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a drop of 15.6% from the December 15th total of 1,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 551,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TNL. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Travel + Leisure in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Travel + Leisure from $49.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Travel + Leisure from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Travel + Leisure from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Travel + Leisure from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.50.

Travel + Leisure Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:TNL traded up $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $52.27. 303,654 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 481,433. Travel + Leisure has a 1-year low of $38.62 and a 1-year high of $56.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $52.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.85. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.64.

Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $993.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Travel + Leisure had a net margin of 10.99% and a negative return on equity of 48.06%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Travel + Leisure will post 5.75 EPS for the current year.

Travel + Leisure Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.83%. Travel + Leisure’s payout ratio is currently 33.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Geoffrey Richards sold 4,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.25, for a total transaction of $249,929.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 120,602 shares in the company, valued at $6,542,658.50. This trade represents a 3.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen P. Holmes sold 80,000 shares of Travel + Leisure stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.55, for a total transaction of $3,804,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 362,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,258,129.85. This trade represents a 18.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,016 shares of company stock worth $4,846,863 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 4.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Travel + Leisure

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TNL. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Travel + Leisure by 1,948.1% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 553 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Travel + Leisure by 49.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 637 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Travel + Leisure by 314.4% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in shares of Travel + Leisure in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in Travel + Leisure in the 3rd quarter valued at about $43,000. 87.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides hospitality services and travel products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Vacation Ownership; and Travel and Membership. The Vacation Ownership segment develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership interests (VOIs) to individual consumers, as well as provides consumer financing in connection with the sale of VOIs; and property management services at resorts.