DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

DiamondRock Hospitality (NYSE:DRH) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 19,060,000 shares, an increase of 5.2% from the November 15th total of 18,120,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.0 days. Currently, 9.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

DiamondRock Hospitality Trading Down 0.4 %

DRH stock opened at $9.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $9.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.68. DiamondRock Hospitality has a fifty-two week low of $7.74 and a fifty-two week high of $10.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 34.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.73 and a current ratio of 1.73.

DiamondRock Hospitality Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.20%. This is a positive change from DiamondRock Hospitality’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. DiamondRock Hospitality’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On DiamondRock Hospitality

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in DRH. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in DiamondRock Hospitality by 1.8% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 105,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in DiamondRock Hospitality by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,081,031 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $17,585,000 after purchasing an additional 25,154 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 46.0% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 67,532 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $571,000 after buying an additional 21,292 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of DiamondRock Hospitality by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 95,258 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in DiamondRock Hospitality by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 32,191 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on DRH. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on DiamondRock Hospitality from $10.00 to $10.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI cut shares of DiamondRock Hospitality from an “outperform” rating to an “inline” rating and set a $10.50 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered DiamondRock Hospitality from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $10.75 to $10.25 in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. StockNews.com raised DiamondRock Hospitality from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their target price on DiamondRock Hospitality from $11.00 to $10.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.38.

DiamondRock Hospitality Company Profile

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.