Travel Plus Leisure

Travel+Leisure Co is assigned a 3-star quantitative star rating, indicating our belief that this share class is a balanced choice, but prudent investors should consider looking elsewhere. The stock currently trades at a 4% discount to our quantitative fair value estimate of $64.07 per share; however, some caution is warranted due to this estimate's medium uncertainty rating.

The company's profitability increases our quantitative valuation. Highly profitable companies are often more resilient in recessions and are likely to generate stronger future cash flows for shareholders. Reflecting the firm's profitability is its earnings yield of 11.0%, which falls in the top 20% compared with global peers. This suggests that it is generating substantial earnings relative to its share price, which contributes to our view that shares are undervalued.

The company's balance sheet is an additional encouraging factor. Leverage can enable a company to invest in growth, potentially boosting shareholder value more than equity financing alone. The firm's EBITDA/interest coverage ratio of 3.0, a core component of leverage, falls in the bottom 30% compared with peers globally. Although the firm's ability to cover interest payments with EBITDA is limited, shares could sharply rebound if economic circumstances change or recent investments reduce fears of default. This characteristic further promotes our favorable price/fair value ratio.

In addition to the aforementioned drivers, our model considers momentum as part of its comprehensive analysis. This share class has outperformed the broader universe over the past year. While we believe the stock is undervalued, this outperformance had a negative impact on our valuation estimate.

The company's narrow quantitative moat rating indicates it could outearn its cost of capital and maintain robust margins for 10 years or longer. In addition, the company's moderate financial health score is decent and doesn't seriously concern us with regard to financial distress.