Wyndham Hotels & Resorts $WH Shares Purchased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) by 138.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 11,900 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,900 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts were worth $855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the 2nd quarter valued at about $623,573,000. Findlay Park Partners LLP bought a new position in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the second quarter valued at $100,648,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the 2nd quarter valued at $56,860,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts during the 2nd quarter worth about $47,811,000. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,657,000. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $100.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Mizuho set a $95.00 price target on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings cut Wyndham Hotels & Resorts from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.67.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Stock Performance

NYSE WH opened at $77.89 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $72.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.83. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has a 12-month low of $66.87 and a 12-month high of $90.35. The company has a market capitalization of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.69.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $410.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $408.99 million. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 77.43% and a net margin of 13.97%. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Wyndham Hotels & Resorts will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’s payout ratio is currently 63.94%.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, September 29th that authorizes the company to buy back $400 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

In related news, CEO Geoffrey Ballotti sold 19,414 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.71, for a total transaction of $1,411,591.94. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 549,323 shares in the company, valued at $39,941,275.33. This represents a 3.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 2.33% of the company’s stock.

About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Inc is a global hotel franchising company that operates an asset-light lodging business. Rather than owning and managing most of its hotels, the company licenses its brands and provides franchisees with support in areas such as marketing, reservations, technology, training and operational standards.

Its portfolio includes a range of economy, midscale and upscale hotel brands, including Super 8, Days Inn, Ramada, La Quinta, Microtel, Baymont, Wingate, AmericInn, Wyndham, Wyndham Garden, Registry Collection Hotels and ECHO Suites Extended Stay by Wyndham.