DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) Short Interest Update

DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,780,000 shares, a growth of 12.9% from the September 30th total of 16,640,000 shares. Currently, 9.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.7 days.

DiamondRock Hospitality Stock Performance

DiamondRock Hospitality stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $8.57. 1,584,832 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,869,745. DiamondRock Hospitality has a 12-month low of $7.45 and a 12-month high of $9.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $8.54.

DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.22). DiamondRock Hospitality had a return on equity of 4.31% and a net margin of 6.43%. The business had revenue of $309.28 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $301.77 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that DiamondRock Hospitality will post 0.98 EPS for the current year.

DiamondRock Hospitality Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.03 dividend. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. DiamondRock Hospitality’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on DRH shares. Compass Point raised shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from $9.50 to $9.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 10th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.92.

Institutional Trading of DiamondRock Hospitality

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 40.3% in the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 6,303,698 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,810,788 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,102,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,214,000 after acquiring an additional 120,228 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,618,538 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,127,000 after acquiring an additional 43,050 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 1.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,081,031 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,585,000 after purchasing an additional 25,154 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality in the second quarter valued at about $15,118,000.

About DiamondRock Hospitality

DiamondRock Hospitality Company is a self-advised real estate investment trust (REIT) that is an owner of a leading portfolio of geographically diversified hotels concentrated in leisure destinations and top gateway markets. The Company currently owns 36 premium quality hotels with over 9,700 rooms. The Company has strategically positioned its portfolio to be operated both under leading global brand families as well as independent boutique hotels in the lifestyle segment.