Jefferies Financial Group Begins Coverage on Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP)

Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP) in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $130.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on RHP. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ryman Hospitality Properties from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ryman Hospitality Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ryman Hospitality Properties from $104.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ryman Hospitality Properties presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.17.

Ryman Hospitality Properties Stock Up 1.1 %

RHP stock opened at $112.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.07. Ryman Hospitality Properties has a 12 month low of $90.94 and a 12 month high of $122.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $107.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.97.

Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.89). The business had revenue of $549.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $545.93 million. Ryman Hospitality Properties had a net margin of 14.84% and a return on equity of 61.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.73 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ryman Hospitality Properties will post 8.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ryman Hospitality Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.15 dividend. This is an increase from Ryman Hospitality Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.10. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Ryman Hospitality Properties’s payout ratio is 78.15%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ryman Hospitality Properties news, Director Alvin L. Bowles, Jr. sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.32, for a total value of $96,588.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,148 shares in the company, valued at $337,843.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryman Hospitality Properties

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ryman Hospitality Properties by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,470,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $979,248,000 after purchasing an additional 226,547 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ryman Hospitality Properties by 41.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,153,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $338,168,000 after purchasing an additional 931,283 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ryman Hospitality Properties by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,586,256 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $158,404,000 after purchasing an additional 12,058 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Ryman Hospitality Properties by 264.2% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,199,392 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $119,771,000 after purchasing an additional 870,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Ryman Hospitality Properties by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 820,639 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $81,947,000 after purchasing an additional 8,469 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.48% of the company’s stock.

About Ryman Hospitality Properties

Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc (NYSE: RHP) is a leading lodging and hospitality real estate investment trust that specializes in upscale convention center resorts and entertainment experiences. The Company's holdings include Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center; and Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, five of the top seven largest non-gaming convention center hotels in the United States based on total indoor meeting space.