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Bear of the Day: Intercontinental Hotels (IHG)

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With the market screaming higher, it can feel like any stock you invest in is going to make money. Over the short-term that may very well be correct. Eventually, the music is going to stop and you don’t want to be left holding the bag. One way to put the odds in your favor is to invest in stocks that have strong earnings trends. That way, when the momentum of the broad market finally slows down you stand a chance of keeping those profits.

Today’s Bear of the Day is a stock with a weak earnings trend. It’s Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG - Free Report) . InterContinental Hotels Group PLC owns, manages, franchises, and leases hotels in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Greater China. The company operates hotels, resorts, restaurants, and spas under the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, Regent, Six Senses, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, Hotel Indigo, EVEN HOTELS, HUALUXE, Crowne Plaza, Voco, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, avid, Staybridge Suites, Atwell Suites, and Candlewood Suites brand names. It also provides IHG Rewards Club, a hotel loyalty program. As of February 28, 2020, the company had approximately 5,900 hotels and 884,000 rooms in approximately 100 countries.

Intercontinental Hotels Group Price and Consensus

Intercontinental Hotels Group Price and Consensus

Intercontinental Hotels Group price-consensus-chart | Intercontinental Hotels Group Quote

I am sure you didn’t need to read this article to realize that the hotel industry has been under pressure. The Hotels and Motels industry is in the Bottom 26% of our Zacks Industry Rank. The reason for the Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) lies in the series of negative earnings revisions coming into the downside recently. Over the last 60 days, three analysts have cut their estimates for the current year and next year. The negative revisions have cut our Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year down from $3.12 to $1.43 while next year’s numbers are down from $3.37 to $2.82.

There are a few other stocks within the same industry that are in the good graces of the Zacks Industry Rank. Those stocks include China Lodging Group (HTHT - Free Report) and Choice Hotels (CHH - Free Report) .

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