Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $92.25.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on VAC. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide from $112.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide from $97.00 to $88.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 12th.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide stock opened at $79.62 on Tuesday. Marriott Vacations Worldwide has a 12-month low of $49.22 and a 12-month high of $100.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.58, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.48. The stock's fifty day moving average is $71.87 and its 200-day moving average is $71.84.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE:VAC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.21 billion. Marriott Vacations Worldwide had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 4.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Marriott Vacations Worldwide will post 6.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd were given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. Marriott Vacations Worldwide's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marriott Vacations Worldwide

In other news, Director Christian Asmar purchased 412,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $67.61 per share, with a total value of $27,885,676.89. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 3,708,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $250,727,155.13. This trade represents a 12.51% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marriott Vacations Worldwide

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Marriott Vacations Worldwide in the second quarter worth $92,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 356.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,040 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide in the second quarter valued at about $434,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of Marriott Vacations Worldwide by 2.1% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 52,754 shares of the company's stock worth $3,815,000 after buying an additional 1,063 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.52% of the company's stock.

About Marriott Vacations Worldwide

Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, a vacation company, develops, markets, sells, and manages vacation ownership and related businesses, products, and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Vacation Ownership and Exchange & Third-Party Management.

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