Great fit for Wyndham

Article Excerpt

WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE $29.42 (New York symbol WYN; SI Rating: Extra Risk) (973-753-6000; www.wyndhamworldwide.com; Shares outstanding: 175.0 million; Market cap: $5.1 billion; Dividend yield: 1.9%) plans to buy privately held vacation rental company James Villa Holidays of the U.K. for about $77 million. The purchase will give Wyndham greater exposure to the Mediterranean villa market. James Villa has more than 2,300 properties in 50 locations in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Malta. Aside from vacation rentals, James Villa offers air travel, car rental and other services. The acquisition will slightly increase Wyndham’s earnings. In addition to hotels, Wyndham manages vacation resorts, rental properties, luxury clubs and time-shares. This gives it more consistent cash flow than most of its competitors, who mainly focus on hotels. Wyndham Worldwide is a buy. buy…