Analyzing Choice Hotels International (CHH) and The Competition

Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) is one of 382 public companies in the “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Choice Hotels International to related companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, dividends, valuation and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Choice Hotels International and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Choice Hotels International	3	9	3	0	2.00
Choice Hotels International Competitors	3783	17170	25440	901	2.50

Choice Hotels International currently has a consensus price target of $113.38, indicating a potential upside of 1.99%. As a group, “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies have a potential upside of 60.75%. Given Choice Hotels International’s competitors stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Choice Hotels International has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Dividends

Choice Hotels International pays an annual dividend of $1.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Choice Hotels International pays out 16.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.3% and pay out 37.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

65.6% of Choice Hotels International shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.6% of shares of all “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies are owned by institutional investors. 23.9% of Choice Hotels International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.2% of shares of all “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Choice Hotels International has a beta of 0.71, indicating that its stock price is 29% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Choice Hotels International’s competitors have a beta of 1.63, indicating that their average stock price is 63% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Choice Hotels International and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Choice Hotels International	20.28%	205.69%	10.68%
Choice Hotels International Competitors	2.27%	-40.22%	2.09%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Choice Hotels International and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Choice Hotels International	$1.60 billion	$369.95 million	15.70
Choice Hotels International Competitors	$3.42 billion	$247.14 million	-146.40

Choice Hotels International’s competitors have higher revenue, but lower earnings than Choice Hotels International. Choice Hotels International is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Choice Hotels International beats its competitors on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Choice Hotels International Company Profile

Choice Hotels International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a hotel franchisor in the United States and internationally. It operates through Hotel Franchising & Management and Corporate & Other segments. The company franchises lodging properties under the brand names of Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Clarion Pointe, Sleep Inn, Ascend Hotel Collection, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, MainStay Suites, Suburban Studios, WoodSpring Suites, Everhome Suites, Cambria Hotels, Radisson Blu, Radisson RED, Radisson, Park Plaza, Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Radisson Inn & Suites, Park Inn by Radisson, Radisson Individuals, and Radisson Collection. Choice Hotels International, Inc. was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in North Bethesda, Maryland.