Short Interest in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH) Decreases By 21.8%

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:WH) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,480,000 shares, a decrease of 21.8% from the February 13th total of 3,170,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 853,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WH. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 434.8% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 508.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts by 86.4% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WH shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $107.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $99.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $105.00 to $122.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.45.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Price Performance

WH stock traded up $1.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $90.85. 201,401 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 784,034. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $103.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.81. The stock has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.28. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has a fifty-two week low of $67.67 and a fifty-two week high of $113.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.72, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.04. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 54.86% and a net margin of 20.51%. Research analysts predict that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.41 dividend. This is an increase from Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.18%.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc engages in the franchise and operation of hotels under the Wyndham brand. It operates through the Hotel Franchising and Hotel Management segments. The Hotel Franchising segment focuses on licensing the company’s lodging brands and providing related services to third-party hotel owners and others.