Growth by acquisition adds to their risk

Article Excerpt

WYNDHAM WORLDWIDE $86.49 (New York symbol WYN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (973- 753-6000; www.wyndhamworldwide.com; Shares outstanding: 120.0 million; Market cap: $10.4 billion; Dividend yield: 1.9%) is one of the world’s largest hospitality companies, with 7,670 franchised hotels worldwide. Wyndham also manages vacation resorts, rental properties, luxury clubs and time-shares. The company now has 109,000 vacation-rental properties in 100 countries. In the three months ended March 31, 2015, Wyndham’s revenue rose 5.8%, to $1.26 billion from $1.19 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 0.6%. Meantime, Wyndham continues to buy back its stock, including 1.7 million shares for $150 million in the latest quarter. That’s partly why its earnings jumped 32.1% before one-time items, to $1.03 a share from $0.78. The company continues to grow quickly, including by acquiring resorts and hotels. As a result, its…