Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,460 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,180 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Travel + Leisure were worth $528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Travel + Leisure by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,565,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,984,000 after acquiring an additional 12,111 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Travel + Leisure by 15.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 915,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,169,000 after purchasing an additional 122,173 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Travel + Leisure during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,804,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Travel + Leisure by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 905,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,691,000 after buying an additional 45,447 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Travel + Leisure by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 814,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,082,000 after buying an additional 79,922 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.54% of the company’s stock.

Travel + Leisure Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE TNL opened at $46.40 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $52.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.61. Travel + Leisure Co. has a 12 month low of $39.91 and a 12 month high of $58.95.

Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $971.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $958.87 million. Travel + Leisure had a net margin of 10.63% and a negative return on equity of 45.75%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Travel + Leisure Co. will post 6.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Travel + Leisure Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.83%. This is a boost from Travel + Leisure’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Travel + Leisure’s payout ratio is currently 38.36%.

Insider Activity at Travel + Leisure

In related news, Director George Herrera sold 6,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.80, for a total transaction of $296,524.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 2,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,121.20. This represents a 69.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Michael Dean Brown bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.66 per share, for a total transaction of $93,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 408,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,070,221.96. The trade was a 0.49 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.02% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on TNL. Bank of America raised Travel + Leisure from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Travel + Leisure from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Travel + Leisure from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Travel + Leisure in a report on Monday, January 6th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Travel + Leisure from $61.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.70.

Travel + Leisure Company Profile

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.