Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc (HOT): Today's Featured Leisure Winner

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide ( HOT) pushed the Leisure industry higher today making it today's featured leisure winner. The industry as a whole closed the day up 0.3%. By the end of trading, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide rose $1.09 (2.1%) to $52.66 on heavy volume. Throughout the day, 3.8 million shares of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of two million shares. The stock ranged in a price between $51.36-$53.06 after having opened the day at $51.55 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $51.57. Other companies within the Leisure industry that increased today were: Del Frisco's Restaurant Group ( DFRG), up 5.8%, Dover Motorsports ( DVD), up 4.7%, MTR Gaming Group ( MNTG), up 4%, and Papa John's International ( PZZA), up 3%.
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Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. operates as a hotel and leisure company worldwide. The company operates luxury and upscale full service hotels, select-service hotels, extended stay hotels, resorts, retreats, and residences under St. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has a market cap of $10.14 billion and is part of the services sector. The company has a P/E ratio of 18.1, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 7.8% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday. Currently there are 13 analysts that rate Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and eight rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, increase in net income, 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 has had somewhat disappointing return on equity.

On the negative front, MakeMyTrip ( MMYT), down 5.7%, Caesars Entertainment ( CZR), down 5.7%, Nevada Gold & Casinos ( UWN), down 4.5%, and Las Vegas Sands ( LVS), down 3.7%, were all laggards within the leisure industry with Ctrip.com International ( CTRP) being today's leisure industry laggard.

For investors not wanting singular stock exposure, ETFs may be of interest. Investors who are bullish on the leisure industry could consider PowerShares Dynamic Leisure&Entert ( PEJ) while those bearish on the leisure industry could consider ProShares Ultra Sht Consumer Services ( SCC).

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