InterContinental Hotels Group (NYSE:IHG) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (NYSE:IHG) shares gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $112.68, but opened at $108.43. InterContinental Hotels Group shares last traded at $108.15, with a volume of 54,652 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IHG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised InterContinental Hotels Group from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley downgraded InterContinental Hotels Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on InterContinental Hotels Group in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, InterContinental Hotels Group presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

InterContinental Hotels Group Trading Down 2.7 %

The company has a market cap of $17.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $126.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.45.

InterContinental Hotels Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 4th will be given a $1.144 dividend. This is a positive change from InterContinental Hotels Group’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.53. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 4th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.4%. InterContinental Hotels Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,387,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $705,758,000 after acquiring an additional 351,723 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 698,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,213,000 after purchasing an additional 8,067 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 430,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,756,000 after purchasing an additional 35,003 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 373,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,613,000 after purchasing an additional 6,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of InterContinental Hotels Group by 29.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 320,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,388,000 after purchasing an additional 73,361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.09% of the company’s stock.

InterContinental Hotels Group Company Profile

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC owns, manages, franchises, and leases hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Greater China. The company operates hotels under the Six Senses, Regent, InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Vignette Collection, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, voco, HUALUXE, Crowne Plaza, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, EVEN, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, Garner, avid hotels, Atwell Suites, Staybridge Suites, Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Candlewood Suites brand names.