Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE:PK) Short Interest Up 23.6% in December

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NYSE:PK - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 20,130,000 shares, an increase of 23.6% from the December 15th total of 16,280,000 shares. Currently, 10.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,260,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PK. UBS Group upped their price objective on Park Hotels & Resorts from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Park Hotels & Resorts from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Park Hotels & Resorts from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Park Hotels & Resorts from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Park Hotels & Resorts from $17.00 to $16.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.65.

Park Hotels & Resorts Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE PK traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $13.63. 1,908,785 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,290,082. Park Hotels & Resorts has a 1-year low of $13.22 and a 1-year high of $18.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.56. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.68, a PEG ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 2.02.

Park Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:PK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The financial services provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $649.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $646.15 million. Park Hotels & Resorts had a return on equity of 9.63% and a net margin of 12.66%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Park Hotels & Resorts will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Park Hotels & Resorts Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 19.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Park Hotels & Resorts's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Park Hotels & Resorts's payout ratio is 63.69%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Park Hotels & Resorts during the third quarter worth $33,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Park Hotels & Resorts by 281.6% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,850 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 2,841 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Park Hotels & Resorts by 82.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,118 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Park Hotels & Resorts in the third quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Park Hotels & Resorts by 64.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 6,894 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Park Hotels & Resorts Company Profile

Park is one of the largest publicly traded lodging REITs with a diverse portfolio of market-leading hotels and resorts with significant underlying real estate value. Park's portfolio currently consists of 43 premium-branded hotels and resorts with over 26,000 rooms primarily located in prime city center and resort locations.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.