Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) Announces Earnings Results

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 11.41% and a negative return on equity of 92.07%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share.

Hilton Worldwide Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE HLT traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $204.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 283,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,486,698. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.45. Hilton Worldwide has a twelve month low of $134.43 and a twelve month high of $215.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.57, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.25.

Hilton Worldwide Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is currently 13.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HLT. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $219.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $212.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $216.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $190.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.06.

Insider Activity at Hilton Worldwide

In other Hilton Worldwide news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 21,489 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.68, for a total transaction of $4,204,967.52. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,536,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $496,338,015.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Hilton Worldwide

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc, a hospitality company, engages in managing, franchising, owning, and leasing hotels and resorts. It operates through two segments, Management and Franchise, and Ownership. The company engages in the hotel management and licensing of its brands. It operates luxury hotels under the Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts, LXR Hotels & Resorts, and Conrad Hotels & Resorts brand; lifestyle hotels under the Canopy by Hilton, Curio Collection by Hilton, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, Tempo by Hilton, and Motto by Hilton brand; full service hotels under the Signia by Hilton, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and DoubleTree by Hilton brand; service hotels under the Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton by Hilton, and Tru by Hilton brand; all-suite hotels under the Embassy Suites by Hilton, Homewood Suites by Hilton, and Home2 Suites by Hilton brand; and economy hotel under the Spark by Hilton brand, as well as Hilton Grand Vacations.