Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) Shares Bought by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH - Free Report) by 31.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 143,783 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,396 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned about 0.31% of Choice Hotels International worth $18,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CHH. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Choice Hotels International by 161.3% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,341 shares of the company's stock worth $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 6,384 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in shares of Choice Hotels International during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $366,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Choice Hotels International in the 3rd quarter valued at $19,545,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Choice Hotels International during the 3rd quarter worth $42,280,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Choice Hotels International by 256.3% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 27,719 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,612,000 after acquiring an additional 19,939 shares during the last quarter. 65.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Choice Hotels International from $134.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Choice Hotels International in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. They issued an "underweight" rating and a $133.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Choice Hotels International from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Choice Hotels International from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Choice Hotels International from $118.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $132.27.

Choice Hotels International Stock Performance

Shares of CHH stock traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $144.02. 218,925 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 464,321. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 177.75, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company's 50 day moving average is $141.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.09. The company has a market cap of $6.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.23. Choice Hotels International, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.91 and a 1 year high of $153.81.

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.31. Choice Hotels International had a negative return on equity of 659.01% and a net margin of 16.27%. The company had revenue of $428.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $432.62 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. Choice Hotels International's quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Choice Hotels International, Inc. will post 6.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Choice Hotels International Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st were paid a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 1st. Choice Hotels International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Simone Wu sold 7,840 shares of Choice Hotels International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.08, for a total transaction of $1,019,827.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 45,669 shares in the company, valued at $5,940,623.52. The trade was a 14.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Patrick Pacious sold 26,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.69, for a total value of $3,880,007.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 404,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,551,123.54. This trade represents a 6.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 61,412 shares of company stock worth $8,582,271 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 24.02% of the company's stock.

About Choice Hotels International

Choice Hotels International, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a hotel franchisor in the United States and internationally. It operates through Hotel Franchising & Management and Corporate & Other segments. The company franchises lodging properties under the brand names of Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Clarion Pointe, Sleep Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, MainStay Suites, Suburban Studios, WoodSpring Suites, Everhome Suites, Cambria Hotels, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Radisson Inn & Suites, Park Inn by Radisson, Radisson Individuals, and Radisson Collection.