Topic: Growth Stocks

WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE $74.20 – New York symbol WYN

WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE $74.20 (New York symbol WYN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (973- 753-6000; www.wyndhamworldwide.com; Shares outstanding: 116.1 million; Market cap: $8.5 billion; Dividend yield: 2.3%) is one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, with 7,700 franchised hotels worldwide.

Wyndham also manages vacation resorts, rental properties, luxury clubs and time-shares. It currently has around 110,000 vacation-rental properties in 100 countries.

In the three months ended September 30, 2015, Wyndham’s revenue rose 3.3%, to $1.56 billion from $1.51 billion a year earlier. The company gets most of its revenue from vacation rather than business travel, and vacation bookings rose in the latest quarter. That helped increase its occupancy rate by 1.7%.

Buybacks fuel latest earnings

Meantime, Wyndham continues to buy back its stock, including 2.1 million shares for a total of $170 million in the latest quarter. That’s partly why its earnings per share rose 6.6% before one-time items, to $1.78 from $1.67.

Wyndham continues to grow quickly, including by acquiring resorts and hotels. The company made a big move into India with the recent addition of 10 hotels and three time-shares. It also aims to keep buying hotels in Latin America and the Asia/Pacific region.

The company’s recent purchases have increased its goodwill and intangible assets to $2.7 billion, or 32% of its market cap. That leaves Wyndham vulnerable to writedowns if demand for vacation travel falls suddenly.

Wyndham Worldwide is a hold.

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