Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE:VAC) versus Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) Head to Head Review

Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) and Marriott Vacations Worldwide (NYSE:VAC) are both consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, risk, profitability, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

Vail Resorts has a beta of 0.81, indicating that its share price is 19% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marriott Vacations Worldwide has a beta of 1.33, indicating that its share price is 33% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Vail Resorts and Marriott Vacations Worldwide”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Vail Resorts	$2.96 billion	1.68	$280.00 million	$6.82	20.36
Marriott Vacations Worldwide	$5.04 billion	0.38	$218.00 million	$4.46	12.45

Vail Resorts has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Marriott Vacations Worldwide. Marriott Vacations Worldwide is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Vail Resorts, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Vail Resorts pays an annual dividend of $8.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. Marriott Vacations Worldwide pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Vail Resorts pays out 130.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Marriott Vacations Worldwide pays out 71.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Vail Resorts has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Marriott Vacations Worldwide has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Vail Resorts is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.9% of Vail Resorts shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.5% of Marriott Vacations Worldwide shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of Vail Resorts shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.6% of Marriott Vacations Worldwide shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Vail Resorts and Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Vail Resorts	8.94%	32.51%	4.66%
Marriott Vacations Worldwide	3.44%	11.44%	2.83%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Vail Resorts and Marriott Vacations Worldwide, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Vail Resorts	1	8	4	0	2.23
Marriott Vacations Worldwide	5	1	4	0	1.90

Vail Resorts currently has a consensus target price of $173.27, suggesting a potential upside of 24.81%. Marriott Vacations Worldwide has a consensus target price of $61.13, suggesting a potential upside of 10.10%. Given Vail Resorts’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Vail Resorts is more favorable than Marriott Vacations Worldwide.

Summary

Vail Resorts beats Marriott Vacations Worldwide on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vail Resorts

Vail Resorts, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates mountain resorts and regional ski areas in the United States. It operates through three segments: Mountain, Lodging, and Real Estate. The Mountain segment operates 41 destination mountain resorts and regional ski areas. This segment is also involved in the ancillary activities, including ski school, dining, and retail/rental operations, as well as real estate brokerage activities. The Lodging segment owns and/or manages various luxury hotels and condominiums under the RockResorts brand; other lodging properties; various condominiums located in proximity to the company's mountain resorts; destination resorts; and golf courses, as well as offers resort ground transportation services. This segment operates owned and managed hotel and condominium units. The Real Estate segment owns, develops, and sells real estate properties. The company was founded in 1845 and is based in Broomfield, Colorado.

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. The company manages vacation ownership and related products under the Marriott Vacation Club, Grand Residences by Marriott, Sheraton Vacation Club, Westin Vacation Club, Hyatt Vacation Club, and Marriott Vacation Club Pulse brands. It develops, markets, and sells vacation ownership and related products under The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club brand; and holds right to develop, market, and sell ownership residential products under The Ritz-Carlton Residences brand. In addition, the company offers exchange networks and membership programs, as well as provision of management services to other resorts and lodging properties through Interval International, and Aqua-Aston business brands. Further, it provides financing consumer purchases of vacation ownership products, and renting vacation ownership inventory. The company sells its upscale tier vacation ownership products primarily through a network of resort-based sales centers and off-site sales locations. The company was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Orlando, Florida.