Shares of Wyndham Worldwide (NYSE:WYN) hit an all-time high on Wednesday after the hotel operator reported a fourth-quarter profit that topped estimates and lifted its fiscal earnings view.
Revenue for the Parsippany, N.J.-based company climbed 7% year-over-year to $1 billion, matching Wall Street’s view, while earnings fell to $73 million, or 37 cents a share, but beat average analyst estimates.
Excluding one-time items, Wyndham said it earned 47 cents, trumping the 44 cents predicted by analysts on average in a Thomson Reuters poll.
Shares of the hotel chain climbed more than 5% Wednesday to a high of $43.13.
The gains were led by a 5% increase in revenue per available room, known as RevPAR, as well as sales related to the newly opened Wyndham Grand hotel in Orlando, and 10% growth in vacation rental revenues. Vacation ownership sales climbed 6% to $527 million.
"In an environment of ongoing economic uncertainty, our businesses continued to execute at a high level,” Wyndham CEO Stephen Holmes said in a statement.
Reflecting the company’s own optimism and confidence, its board authorized a 53% increase in quarterly cash dividend to 23 cents from 15 cents, starting in the first quarter. It also lifted its fiscal guidance to a range of $2.85 to $3 a share from its earlier forecast of $2.72 to $2.82.
The company expects to post between $4.4 billion and $4.6 billion in sales during 2012. Wall Street is looking for sales of $4.46 billion.
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