Hyatt (H) Continues To Expand Hyatt Centric Brand Footprint

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) announced plans to expand the footprint of its Hyatt Centric brand with new hotels in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Portland. Previously, the company had declared its plans to open Hyatt Centric hotels in Dakar, Senegal, San Salvador, El Salvador and Melbourne, Australia. These additions testify the strong potential of the brand. Currently, it has 22 properties in seven countries.

It is to be noted that Hyatt is consistently trying to strengthen its foothold worldwide and capitalize on demand for hotels in international markets, apart from expanding its presence domestically. Expansion in these lucrative markets should help the company gain market share in the hospitality industry, thus boosting its business.

Additionally, Hyatt aims to differentiate its brands by providing a distinct experience for different travelers. It further intends to continue gaining global market traction on its solid brand portfolio, and innovative and exceptional personalized service to guests. The company’s remodeled loyalty program and innovative offerings are also likely to boost occupancy.

Launched in 2015, the Hyatt Centric brand is swiftly gaining momentum. It is a brand of full-service lifestyle hotels located in prime destinations, particularly catering to millennial-minded travelers. Meanwhile, the company’s new signings across its brands globally have consistently outpaced its openings and this trend is expected to continue in 2018. In first-quarter 2018, Hyatt registered net room growth of 7.2% on a year-over-year basis, which marked the 12th successive quarter of growth above 6%. For 2018, the company expects to grow units on a net rooms basis, by roughly 6% to 6.5%, reflecting 60 new hotel openings.

Price Performance

Shares of Hyatt have surged 44.1% in a year, outperforming the industry’s increase of 19.4%. Stocks like Extended Stay America, Inc. (NYSE:STAY) , Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE:VAC) and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:H) , which belong to the same industry, have also gained 13%, 0.4% and 26.5%, respectively, in the same period.

Hyatt has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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