JP Morgan Re-Ranks Many Hotel Stocks
Skift Take
- JP Morgan upgraded Choice Hotels to Neutral and shifted Host Hotels, Park Hotels, Ryman Hospitality, and Sunstone Hotels to Neutral, citing less downside in lodging REITs.
- CoStar forecasts U.S. hotel demand growth of 1.8% in 2024, with occupancy increasing by 1% and room rate growth aligning with inflation, leading to RevPAR growth of 4.8% this year and 4% in 2024.
- Barclays shifted to Equal Weight on Marriott Vacations, expressing uncertainty in company-specific execution and favoring Hilton Grand Vacations in the timeshare sector.
The DJIA was up 57 points Friday while Nasdaq was up 52, the S&P 500 was flat and the 10 year treasury yield was unchanged at 3.91%. Lodging stocks were mixed.
JP Morgan upped their rating on Choice Hotels to Neutral from Underweight given the stock’s pullback since announcing plans to go hostile to try to buy Wyndham. As part of their Lodging Outlook, JPM also said they believe there is less absolute/relative downside in the Lodging REITs, moving Host Hotels, Park Hotels, Ryman Hospitality and Sunstone Hotels to Neutral from Underweight. While they remain positive on Hilton and Marriott, they said the upward moves in the stocks gives them pause on putting fresh money into them but would revisit on pullbacks. No reason to sell here but also they feel no reason to add at these levels. They see more upside in Hyatt than HLT and MAR but said asset sales is likely the key. They see CHH’s effort to buy Wyndha
