Armistice Capital LLC Has $7.14 Million Position in Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH)

Armistice Capital LLC increased its stake in Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,204 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC’s holdings in Choice Hotels International were worth $7,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 77.2% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,105,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,590,000 after acquiring an additional 1,788,563 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Choice Hotels International by 7.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,738,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $345,957,000 after purchasing an additional 195,956 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its position in Choice Hotels International by 0.9% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 941,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,046,000 after purchasing an additional 8,033 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Choice Hotels International by 144.2% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 939,114 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,402,000 after purchasing an additional 554,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Choice Hotels International by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 675,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,340,000 after purchasing an additional 26,289 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CHH shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Choice Hotels International from $126.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Choice Hotels International from $144.00 to $134.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Choice Hotels International from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Choice Hotels International from $137.00 to $134.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Choice Hotels International in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.64.

Choice Hotels International Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE:CHH opened at $129.16 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.98. Choice Hotels International, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.91 and a fifty-two week high of $134.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.10 billion, a PE ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.25.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.86 by ($0.02). Choice Hotels International had a net margin of 15.42% and a negative return on equity of 3,953.67%. 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 previous year, the firm posted $1.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Choice Hotels International, Inc. will post 6.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Choice Hotels International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 1st. Choice Hotels International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Choice Hotels International

In related news, SVP Simone Wu sold 7,840 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.08, for a total transaction of $1,019,827.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,669 shares in the company, valued at $5,940,623.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Choice Hotels International news, SVP Simone Wu sold 7,840 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.08, for a total transaction of $1,019,827.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,940,623.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Dominic Dragisich sold 13,117 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.45, for a total value of $1,632,410.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 69,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,608,330.95. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,241 shares of company stock valued at $5,517,383 in the last 90 days. 24.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Choice Hotels International 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.