Critical Comparison: Marriott Vacations Worldwide (VAC) versus Its Peers

Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE:VAC) is one of 382 public companies in the “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” industry, but how does it contrast to its rivals? We will compare Marriott Vacations Worldwide to similar businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Marriott Vacations Worldwide and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Marriott Vacations Worldwide	-4.75%	14.36%	3.06%
Marriott Vacations Worldwide Competitors	3.93%	-40.66%	2.07%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Marriott Vacations Worldwide and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Marriott Vacations Worldwide	2	4	8	0	2.43
Marriott Vacations Worldwide Competitors	3807	17285	25595	906	2.50

Marriott Vacations Worldwide presently has a consensus target price of $111.91, suggesting a potential upside of 1.30%. As a group, “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies have a potential upside of 58.89%. Given Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Marriott Vacations Worldwide has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Dividends

Marriott Vacations Worldwide pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Marriott Vacations Worldwide pays out -43.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies pay a dividend yield of 3.2% and pay out 38.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Marriott Vacations Worldwide has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Marriott Vacations Worldwide and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Marriott Vacations Worldwide	$5.03 billion	-$308.00 million	-14.87
Marriott Vacations Worldwide Competitors	$3.43 billion	$250.20 million	-155.18

Marriott Vacations Worldwide has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its rivals. Marriott Vacations Worldwide is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

89.5% of Marriott Vacations Worldwide shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 48.7% of shares of all “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies are owned by institutional investors. 13.3% of Marriott Vacations Worldwide shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 22.3% of shares of all “Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Marriott Vacations Worldwide has a beta of 1.31, indicating that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s rivals have a beta of 1.44, indicating that their average stock price is 44% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Marriott Vacations Worldwide rivals beat Marriott Vacations Worldwide on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Company Profile

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, a vacation company, develops, markets, sells, and manages vacation ownership and related businesses, products, and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Vacation Ownership and Exchange & Third-Party Management. The company manages vacation ownership and related products under the Marriott Vacation Club, Grand Residences by Marriott, Sheraton Vacation Club, Westin Vacation Club, Hyatt Vacation Club, and Marriott Vacation Club Pulse brands. It develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership and related products under The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club brand; and holds right to develop, market, and sell ownership residential products under The Ritz-Carlton Residences brand. In addition, the company offers exchange networks and membership programs, as well as provision of management services to other resorts and lodging properties through Interval International, and Aqua-Aston business brands. Further, it provides financing consumer purchases of vacation ownership products, and renting vacation ownership inventory. The company sells its upscale tier vacation ownership products primarily through a network of resort-based sales centers and off-site sales locations. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.