Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

Hyatt Hotels Co. (NYSE:H) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 31st,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share on Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 22nd.

Hyatt Hotels has raised its dividend payment by an average of 31.0% annually over the last three years. Hyatt Hotels has a dividend payout ratio of 15.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Hyatt Hotels to earn $3.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 16.3%.

Hyatt Hotels Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:H opened at $154.85 on Thursday. Hyatt Hotels has a 12 month low of $112.85 and a 12 month high of $162.24. The stock has a market cap of $14.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $152.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $149.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.64 billion. Hyatt Hotels had a net margin of 20.55% and a return on equity of 10.74%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hyatt Hotels will post 3.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark Samuel Hoplamazian sold 51,388 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.77, for a total transaction of $7,696,380.76. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 623,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,389,982.12. This represents a 7.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 23.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Hyatt Hotels from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $178.00 to $172.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $120.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Macquarie reduced their price objective on Hyatt Hotels from $165.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Hyatt Hotels from $157.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $151.57.

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.