NEW YORK (TheStreet) --Shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT) are down by 0.69% to $82.40 at the start of trading on Wednesday morning, after SunTrust downgraded its rating on the company to "neutral" from "buy."

The firm lowered its rating on the hotel and leisure company based on a valuation call.

SunTrust said it held conversations with industry contacts and analyzed millions of future hotel room bookings over the past month and "observed significant weaknesses in forward bookings in markets one might expect to be hurt by FX/international tourism, lower oil prices, and/or new supply."

"The bottom line is that this will be especially bad for companies most exposed to NYC (2Q will be just as bad as 1Q), LA, Miami, Hawaii, Seattle, and Houston," SunTrust added.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates STARWOOD HOTELS&RESORTS WRLD as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate STARWOOD HOTELS&RESORTS WRLD (HOT) a BUY. This is driven by several positive factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its increase in net income, notable return on equity, reasonable valuation levels, good cash flow from operations and increase in stock price during the past year. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company shows low profit margins."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure industry. The net income increased by 82.8% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $128.00 million to $234.00 million.
• The company's current return on equity greatly increased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of significant strength within the corporation. When compared to other companies in the Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure industry and the overall market, STARWOOD HOTELS&RESORTS WRLD's return on equity exceeds that of the industry average and significantly exceeds that of the S&P 500.
• Net operating cash flow has slightly increased to $317.00 million or 7.09% when compared to the same quarter last year. Despite an increase in cash flow, STARWOOD HOTELS&RESORTS WRLD's cash flow growth rate is still lower than the industry average growth rate of 40.33%.
• Compared to where it was 12 months ago, the stock is up, but it has so far lagged the appreciation in the S&P 500. Turning our attention to the future direction of the stock, it goes without saying that even the best stocks can fall in an overall down market. However, in any other environment, this stock still has good upside potential despite the fact that it has already risen in the past year.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: HOT Ratings Report