Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.12 EPS

Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. Hilton Worldwide had a net margin of 11.15% and a negative return on equity of 94.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share.

Hilton Worldwide Price Performance

Shares of HLT stock traded down $0.21 during trading on Thursday, reaching $204.49. The company had a trading volume of 913,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,487,547. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $205.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.32. Hilton Worldwide has a one year low of $134.43 and a one year high of $215.79. The company has a market capitalization of $51.40 billion, a PE ratio of 47.27, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.25.

Hilton Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. Hilton Worldwide’s payout ratio is presently 13.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher J. Nassetta sold 21,489 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 2,536,478 shares in the company, valued at $496,338,015.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Hilton Worldwide from $176.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.06.

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.