DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) Short Interest Update

DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,100,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the November 30th total of 19,060,000 shares. Approximately 10.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on DRH shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Evercore ISI downgraded shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $10.50 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut DiamondRock Hospitality from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $10.75 to $10.25 in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded DiamondRock Hospitality from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DiamondRock Hospitality

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in DiamondRock Hospitality by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,350,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $46,716,000 after acquiring an additional 28,391 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 37.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 368,616 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,219,000 after purchasing an additional 100,805 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its position in DiamondRock Hospitality by 1.6% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 104,965 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in DiamondRock Hospitality by 73.0% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 302,757 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,643,000 after purchasing an additional 127,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in DiamondRock Hospitality by 15.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,925,093 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,996,000 after purchasing an additional 663,529 shares during the last quarter.

DiamondRock Hospitality Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DRH opened at $9.03 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 1.60. DiamondRock Hospitality has a 52-week low of $7.74 and a 52-week high of $10.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $9.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.74.

DiamondRock Hospitality Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.17%. This is a boost from DiamondRock Hospitality’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. DiamondRock Hospitality’s payout ratio is 42.86%.

DiamondRock Hospitality Company Profile

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.