Hilton (HLT) Plans To Expand Presence Of DoubleTree Brand

In a bid to maintain its position as the fastest-growing global hospitality company, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) continues to focus on unit expansion. To this end, HOF Village, LLC (HOFV) announced its plan to launch DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Downtown Canton, OH.

Notably, the new property was acquired by HOFV in October 2019. HOFV is the owner of the premier sports, entertainment and media enterprise surrounding the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. It anticipates to open the hotel during the summer of 2020 in a bid to welcome guests visiting for the 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Week and Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI) Hall of Fame Village.

Meanwhile, the property will undergo a $21 million renovation that will feature new fixtures, carpeting, furniture, roofing and mechanical systems. The renovation’s construction team will be led by Albert M. Higley Co. of Cleveland, OH in collaboration with Rocky Bleier Construction Group in Pittsburgh, Pa. Arkinetics. Once the property is launched, Crestline Hotels and Resorts will manage the hotel under a long-term contract.

Expansion to Drive Growth

Recently, the company announced the opening of Tru by Hilton Burlington in North Carolina, marking its first property in the Piedmont Triad area.

During the third quarter of 2019, Hilton opened 118 hotels. It achieved a net unit growth of 15,600 rooms, increasing 7% from the prior-year quarter. Notably, the company gained from increased average daily rate and continual unit expansion.

As of Sep 30, 2019, Hilton's development pipeline comprised nearly 2,530 hotels, with roughly 379,000 rooms throughout 111 countries and territories, including 35 countries and territories where it currently does not have any running hotels.

Moreover, the company’s broad geographic diversity lowers the impact of volatility in individual markets. Notably, more than half of Hilton's pipeline is located outside the United States. More than 30% of the pipeline is located in the Asia Pacific region, where demand has been high.

Backed by solid expansion strategies and a strong brand presence, shares of Hilton have gained 51.5% in the past year compared with the industry’s 30% growth. Notably, the launch of DoubleTree by Hilton is likely to help it boost overall revenues and witness increased revenue per available room (RevPAR) for its worldwide comparable system-wide properties.

In the third quarter of 2019, RevPAR for worldwide comparable system-wide properties increased 0.4%. The company anticipates its system-wide RevPAR to witness a year-over-year improvement of nearly 1% on a comparable and currency-neutral basis.

Zacks Rank & Key Pick

Currently, Hilton, which shares space with Extended Stay America, Inc. (NASDAQ:STAY) and Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. (NYSE:HGV) , carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

A better-ranked stock from the same space is Marriot Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC) , which sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and has an impressive long-term earnings growth rate of 9%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

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