Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set a “sell” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 19.66% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Choice Hotels International from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $120.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Choice Hotels International from $114.00 to $112.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Choice Hotels International from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $137.00 to $134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Susquehanna assumed coverage on shares of Choice Hotels International in a research note on Friday, June 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.25.

Choice Hotels International Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Choice Hotels International stock opened at $130.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $125.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 177.75, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $6.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.25. Choice Hotels International has a 1 year low of $108.91 and a 1 year high of $134.44.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.86 by ($0.02). Choice Hotels International had a negative return on equity of 3,953.67% and a net margin of 15.42%. The company had revenue of $435.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $438.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Choice Hotels International will post 6.38 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Choice Hotels International news, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 10,025 shares of Choice Hotels International stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.37, for a total transaction of $1,206,709.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 404,666 shares in the company, valued at $48,709,646.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Choice Hotels International news, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 10,025 shares of Choice Hotels International stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.37, for a total transaction of $1,206,709.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 404,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,709,646.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Patrick Cimerola sold 13,259 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.08, for a total value of $1,658,435.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 23,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,934,501.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,401 shares of company stock worth $4,497,556 in the last ninety days. 24.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CHH. Boulder Hill Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Choice Hotels International during the 4th quarter valued at $2,504,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 621,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,396,000 after buying an additional 62,174 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Choice Hotels International by 17.8% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 34,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,993,000 after buying an additional 5,156 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP lifted its stake in shares of Choice Hotels International by 136.6% in the 4th quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 48,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,472,000 after acquiring an additional 27,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA boosted its holdings in Choice Hotels International by 29.8% during the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 50,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,378,000 after acquiring an additional 11,581 shares during the period. 65.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Choice Hotels International Company Profile

Choice Hotels International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a hotel franchisor in the United States and internationally. It operates through Hotel Franchising & Management and Corporate & Other segments. The company franchises lodging properties under the brand names of Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Clarion Pointe, Sleep Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, MainStay Suites, Suburban Studios, WoodSpring Suites, Everhome Suites, Cambria Hotels, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Radisson Inn & Suites, Park Inn by Radisson, Radisson Individuals, and Radisson Collection.