Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H) saw a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,640,000 shares, a growth of 10.2% from the August 15th total of 4,210,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 575,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 8.1 days.

Insider Activity

In other Hyatt Hotels news, insider Mark Samuel Hoplamazian sold 44,219 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.14, for a total value of $6,550,602.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 623,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,373,585.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 23.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hyatt Hotels

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Hyatt Hotels during the fourth quarter worth about $179,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 20,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,645,000 after purchasing an additional 3,710 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 484,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,153,000 after purchasing an additional 28,604 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Hyatt Hotels by 43.5% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,235,000 after purchasing an additional 7,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Hyatt Hotels by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.02% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on H shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $161.00 to $153.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Hyatt Hotels from $162.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Hyatt Hotels from $168.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Macquarie dropped their target price on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $168.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.21.

Hyatt Hotels Stock Performance

H traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $148.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 351,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 604,298. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Hyatt Hotels has a fifty-two week low of $96.77 and a fifty-two week high of $162.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $149.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.99 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 1.50.

Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.58. The business had revenue of $1.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.76 billion. Hyatt Hotels had a net margin of 14.55% and a return on equity of 10.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hyatt Hotels will post 3.97 EPS for the current year.

Hyatt Hotels Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 27th were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 27th. Hyatt Hotels’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.32%.

About Hyatt Hotels

Hyatt Hotels Corporation operates as a hospitality company in the United States and internationally. It operates through Owned and Leased Hotels, Americas Management and Franchising, ASPAC Management and Franchising, EAME Management and Franchising, and Apple Leisure Group segments. The company manages, franchises, licenses, owns, and leases portfolio of properties, consisting of full-service hotels and resorts, select service hotels, and other properties, including timeshare, fractional, residential, vacation, and condominium units.