DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) Short Interest Down 21.4% in December

DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,800,000 shares, a drop of 21.4% from the December 15th total of 20,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.5 days. Currently, 7.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DiamondRock Hospitality

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,925,093 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $42,996,000 after purchasing an additional 663,529 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in DiamondRock Hospitality by 73.0% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 302,757 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,643,000 after acquiring an additional 127,717 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,350,283 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $46,716,000 after acquiring an additional 28,391 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 37.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 368,616 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,219,000 after acquiring an additional 100,805 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality during the third quarter worth about $568,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DRH. Evercore ISI lowered shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from an "outperform" rating to an "inline" rating and set a $10.50 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on DiamondRock Hospitality from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded DiamondRock Hospitality from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $10.75 to $10.25 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $10.25.

DiamondRock Hospitality Stock Performance

NYSE:DRH traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $8.93. 1,073,679 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,713,916. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $9.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 1.59. DiamondRock Hospitality has a one year low of $7.74 and a one year high of $10.00.

DiamondRock Hospitality Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.33%. This is a positive change from DiamondRock Hospitality's previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. DiamondRock Hospitality's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.86%.

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.