Short Interest in Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) Grows By 16.4%

Travel + Leisure Co. (NYSE:TNL) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,560,000 shares, a growth of 16.4% from the February 13th total of 1,340,000 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 591,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on TNL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Travel + Leisure from $56.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Travel + Leisure from $61.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $64.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Travel + Leisure in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Travel + Leisure from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Travel + Leisure from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Travel + Leisure has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.70.

Travel + Leisure Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TNL traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $48.28. 49,822 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 575,595. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.61. Travel + Leisure has a 52 week low of $39.91 and a 52 week high of $58.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.70.

Travel + Leisure (NYSE:TNL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.04. Travel + Leisure had a negative return on equity of 45.75% and a net margin of 10.63%. The company had revenue of $971.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $958.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Travel + Leisure will post 6.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Travel + Leisure Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is a positive change from Travel + Leisure’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Travel + Leisure’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.36%.

Insider Activity at Travel + Leisure

In related news, insider Michael Dean Brown purchased 2,000 shares of Travel + Leisure stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.66 per share, with a total value of $93,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 408,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,070,221.96. This trade represents a 0.49 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.02% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Travel + Leisure

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Travel + Leisure by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,544,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,822,000 after acquiring an additional 163,804 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Travel + Leisure by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,565,581 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,984,000 after purchasing an additional 12,111 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Travel + Leisure by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,424,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,358,000 after purchasing an additional 58,944 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Travel + Leisure by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,036,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,302,000 after purchasing an additional 90,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Travel + Leisure by 15.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 915,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,169,000 after purchasing an additional 122,173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.54% of the company’s stock.

About Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure Co, together with its subsidiaries, provides hospitality services and travel products in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Vacation Ownership; and Travel and Membership. The Vacation Ownership segment develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership interests (VOIs) to individual consumers, as well as provides consumer financing in connection with the sale of VOIs; and property management services at resorts.