Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $176.40.

A number of brokerages have commented on H. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Hyatt Hotels in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Hyatt Hotels from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Hyatt Hotels from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Hyatt Hotels from $178.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Evercore reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $175.00 target price (up from $170.00) on shares of Hyatt Hotels in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd.

Hyatt Hotels Trading Up 4.1%

Shares of H opened at $155.79 on Tuesday. Hyatt Hotels has a twelve month low of $102.43 and a twelve month high of $180.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $14.72 billion, a PE ratio of -278.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $163.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $154.91.

Hyatt Hotels (NYSE:H) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $1.04. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Hyatt Hotels had a positive return on equity of 5.53% and a negative net margin of 0.73%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Hyatt Hotels will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hyatt Hotels Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. Hyatt Hotels’s dividend payout ratio is -107.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hyatt Hotels news, insider Javier Aguila sold 9,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.87, for a total value of $1,583,726.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 2,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $445,195.08. This represents a 78.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 23.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hyatt Hotels

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Veritas Asset Management LLP boosted its holdings in Hyatt Hotels by 827.9% in the fourth quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 1,900,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695,616 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Hyatt Hotels by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,676,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $749,675,000 after buying an additional 1,516,554 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,715,085 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,221,000 after buying an additional 843,121 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 84.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,228,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,545,000 after buying an additional 562,611 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Hyatt Hotels by 24.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,765,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,548,000 after acquiring an additional 545,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.54% of the company’s stock.

About Hyatt Hotels

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) is a global hospitality company that develops, owns, manages and franchises luxury and business hotels, resorts and vacation properties. Its portfolio spans a range of price points and styles under brands such as Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Andaz, Hyatt Regency, Hyatt Centric, Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Thompson Hotels, Alila and Destination by Hyatt. In addition to accommodations, the company provides meeting and event spaces, food and beverage outlets, spa and wellness centers, and a variety of guest services designed to cater to both leisure and business travelers.

Hyatt’s business model combines property ownership, management contracts and third-party franchising.