Short Interest in Dine Brands Global, Inc. (NYSE:DIN) Expands By 6.9%

Dine Brands Global, Inc. (NYSE:DIN - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,010,000 shares, an increase of 6.9% from the December 31st total of 1,880,000 shares. Currently, 13.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 539,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Institutional Trading of Dine Brands Global

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its position in Dine Brands Global by 640.6% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 495,176 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $14,905,000 after acquiring an additional 428,319 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Dine Brands Global in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,102,000. Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Dine Brands Global by 229.1% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 249,713 shares of the restaurant operator's stock worth $7,799,000 after purchasing an additional 173,831 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Dine Brands Global by 1,733.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 132,073 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $3,975,000 after purchasing an additional 124,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Dine Brands Global by 173.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 140,501 shares of the restaurant operator's stock valued at $5,086,000 after purchasing an additional 89,152 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.83% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Dine Brands Global from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Dine Brands Global from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. CL King downgraded Dine Brands Global from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Dine Brands Global in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.00 price target (down previously from $44.00) on shares of Dine Brands Global in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Dine Brands Global presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $41.29.

Dine Brands Global Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DIN traded down $1.50 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $27.62. 540,231 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 595,331. Dine Brands Global has a twelve month low of $25.68 and a twelve month high of $51.35. The firm has a market cap of $421.21 million, a P/E ratio of 4.60 and a beta of 1.75. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $30.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.42.

Dine Brands Global (NYSE:DIN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $195.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.40 million. Dine Brands Global had a negative return on equity of 37.75% and a net margin of 11.31%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Dine Brands Global will post 5.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dine Brands Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 7th. Investors of record on Friday, December 20th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 20th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.39%. Dine Brands Global's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.94%.

About Dine Brands Global

Dine Brands Global, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns, franchises, and operates restaurants in the United States and internationally. The company operates through six segments: Applebee's Franchise Operations, International House of Pancakes (IHOP) Franchise Solutions, Fuzzy's franchise operations, Rental Operations, Financing Operations, and Company-Operated Restaurant Operations.