Is it a Smart Choice to Invest in Hyatt Hotels (H)?

Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its “Baron Partners Fund” fourth quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. An increase of 19.54% was delivered by the fund’s institutional shares for the fourth quarter of 2021, outperforming the Russell Midcap Growth Index which gained 2.85%  for the same period. The S&P 500 Index rose 11.03% while the Morningstar Large Growth Category (the “Peer Group”) Average increased 6.91%. Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.

Baron Partners Fund, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) and discussed its stance on the firm. Founded in 1957, Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) is a Chicago, Illinois-based hospitality company with a $9.9 billion market capitalization, and is currently spearheaded by its CEO, Mark S. Hoplamazian. Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) delivered a -5.42% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 5.16%. The stock closed at $90.70 per share on March 15, 2022.

Here is what Baron Partners Fund has to say about Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:  

“Higher inflation made many of the Fund’s investments in Real/Irreplaceable Assets more valuable. Hyatt Hotels Corp. has used its strong financial positioning to acquire assets in the faster growing leisure travel segment. It has also divested assets at favorable prices while retaining lucrative management contracts.

Shares of global hotelier Hyatt Hotels Corp. increased as the company continued to pivot towards a more asset-light business and greater focus on leisure with the acquisition of Apple Leisure Group. The acquisition increases the company’s leisure exposure from 25% to 50% of its business. Together with the planned sale of $2 billion of owned real estate over the next two years, this acquisition should result in a business that is 80% fee-based and 20% owned-based. Hyatt plans to use proceeds from the sale of owned assets to pay down debt incurred to complete the acquisition.”

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Our calculations show that Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) was in 38 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 37 funds in the previous quarter. Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) delivered an 8.71% return in the past 3 months.

In March 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE:H) in another article. You can find other letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.