Based on the aggregated intelligence of 125,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, hotel operator Marriott International (NYSE:MAR) has received a distressing two-star ranking. While one-star stocks have been the worst performers, our data has shown that two-star stocks still lag the market by a significant margin and should be approached with caution; conversely, highly rated stocks have outperformed the S&P.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Marriott's business, and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Marriott facts
|
Headquarters (founded) |
Bethesda, Md. (1971) |
|
Market Cap |
$5.85 billion |
|
Industry |
Lodging |
|
TTM Revenue |
$13.18 billion |
|
Management |
Chairman/CEO J. Willard Marriott Jr. President/COO William Shaw |
|
Net Income Growth (average, last five years, and TTM) |
19.1% and (25.9%) |
|
Competitors |
Starwood Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:HOT), Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE:WYN) |
|
CAPS members bearish on MAR also bearish on: |
Carnival (NYSE:CCL), Lennar (NYSE:LEN) |
|
CAPS members bullish on MAR also bullish on: |
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ:CSCO) |
Sources: Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's, and Motley Fool CAPS. TTM = trailing 12 months.
Over on CAPS, some 32% of the 97 All-Star members who have rated Marriott believe the stock will underperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bears include srk85 and Zlobster, both of whom are ranked in the top 6% of our community.
Early last month, srk85 noted that Marriott's stock price seemed relatively steep: "Compared to other hotel companies, it's rather expensive. Earnings should decline for the second straight year in 2009."
In a pitch from three days later, Zlobster follows that bearish line of thinking and writes:
bearish on hospitality companies over the next 18-24 months. there has been an overconstruction of hotels corporate lean times (travel will be on top of things to cut back on) = lots of empty rooms. not likely to be able to ramp-down as quickly as some other industries in the coming environment.
What do you think about Marriott, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. More than 125,000 investors are waiting to hear what you have to say. CAPS is 100% free, so simply click here to get started.
