Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.15 (NYSE:HLT)

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st.

Hilton Worldwide has a payout ratio of 6.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Hilton Worldwide to earn $7.86 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 7.6%.

Hilton Worldwide Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE HLT traded down $0.84 on Friday, reaching $269.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,639,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,490,156. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.71 billion, a PE ratio of 57.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.29. Hilton Worldwide has a 12 month low of $186.83 and a 12 month high of $274.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $250.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $235.50.

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.09. Hilton Worldwide had a negative return on equity of 60.85% and a net margin of 10.70%. On average, research analysts expect that Hilton Worldwide will post 7 EPS for the current year.

Hilton Worldwide announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, November 14th that allows the company to repurchase $3.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Hilton Worldwide

In other Hilton Worldwide news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 40,653 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.83, for a total transaction of $10,928,745.99. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 77,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,802,871.89. This represents a 34.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael W. Duffy sold 23,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.66, for a total value of $5,880,287.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 22,833 shares in the company, valued at $5,746,152.78. This represents a 50.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on HLT shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Hilton Worldwide from $237.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $247.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $270.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $230.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Hilton Worldwide from $235.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hilton Worldwide currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $244.06.

Hilton Worldwide Company Profile

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc, a hospitality company, engages in managing, franchising, owning, and leasing hotels and resorts. It operates through two segments, Management and Franchise, and Ownership. The company engages in the hotel management and licensing of its brands. It operates luxury hotels under the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, LXR Hotels & Resorts, and Conrad Hotels & Resorts brand; lifestyle hotels under the Canopy by Hilton, Curio Collection by Hilton, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Tempo by Hilton, and Motto by Hilton brand; full service hotels under the Signia by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and DoubleTree by Hilton brand; service hotels under the Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton by Hilton, and Tru by Hilton brand; all-suite hotels under the Embassy Suites by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and Home2 Suites by Hilton brand; and economy hotel under the Spark by Hilton brand, as well as Hilton Grand Vacations.