Ahead Of The Bell: Wyndham Worldwide Upgraded

NEW YORK (AP) — A move away from timeshare business and an ongoing shift toward a fee-for-service structure prompted a Goldman Sachs analyst to upgrade Wyndham Worldwide Corp. Wednesday.

Analyst Steven Kent said in a client note that he recently met with Wydham's management and determined that they are concentrating on selling off existing timeshare inventory and managing the sale of timeshares, condos and apartments as timeshare weeks without taking on more capital exposure.

"Over the next several quarters we expect Wyndham to continue to push itself towards becoming a fee-for-service company while in the meantime, generating significant cash flow as it moderates its timeshare development activities," he wrote.

Kent raised his rating on the Parsippany, N.J.-based company to "Buy" from "Neutral" and increased his share price target to $26 from $18.

Shares of Wyndham Worldwide advanced $1.14, or 7 percent, to $17.40 in premarket activity. The stock has ranged from $2.55 to $16.64 over the past year.