Spinoff spotlight: Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Article Excerpt

WYNDHAM HOTELS & RESORTS INC. $74 is still a buy. The company (New York symbol WH; Consumer Sector; Shares outstanding: 84.3 million; Market cap: $6.2 billion; Dividend yield: 2.1%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.wyndhamhotels.com) took its current form on June 4, 2018, when the old Wyndham Worldwide (old New York symbol WYN) split into two new companies. For every WYN share investors held, they received one share each of the new companies—Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, and Wyndham Destinations (now called Travel + Leisure). Today, Wyndham Hotels is the world’s largest hotel franchiser, with 851,000 rooms spread across 9,100 properties in 95 countries. The company recently rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from rival Choice Hotels International, Inc. (New York symbol CHH). The offer, worth $90.00 per Wyndham share, consisted of $49.50 a share in cash (55% to the total) and 45% in Choice Hotel stock. Wyndham feels the offer undervalues its growth potential. Even without a takeover, Wyndham’s prospects remain bright as travel volumes continue to rebound from…