Xenia Hotels & Resorts (XHR) finds itself in the right industry in 2022: travel. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to grow earnings by the triple digits this year.

Xenia owns 34 properties with 9,814 rooms in 14 states. Xenia’s hotels are in the luxury and upper upscale market segments, and operated and/or licensed by industry leaders such as Marriott, Hyatt, Kimpton, Fairmont, Loews, Hilton, The Kessler Collection, and Davidson.

Another Big Beat in Q4 2021

On Mar 1, 2022, Xenia reported its fourth quarter 2021 results and beat the Zacks Consensus for the 6th quarter in a row. Earnings were $0.25 versus the Zacks Consensus of $0.17, for a 47% beat.

It has put together a nice string of beats since the pandemic hit in 2020.

As the travel recovery continued, so did the recovery in Xenia's portfolio. It's Same-Property portfolio saw a RevPAR of $136.01, a decline of just 17.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, which was pre-pandemic. In Dec, the portfolio only saw an 8% decline compared to Dec 2019.

Hotel locations in the popular sunbelt vacation states helped the portfolio in the quarter.

Additionally, the company gave an update on what it was seeing in the first quarter of 2022.

The Omicron outbreak did hit the January performance, as their current Same-Property portfolio, which was just 32 hotels after the sale of Hotel Monaco Chicago, saw a RevPAR decline of about 37% compared to Jan 2019.

But, preliminary results for Feb showed a "substantial rebound" as the projected RevPAR of about $157 would represent about a 19% decline compared to a very strong Feb 2019.

It would be the highest absolute monthly RevPar since the beginning of the pandemic.

There's no doubt that Americans were traveling for spring break vacations in March.

Xenia will report first quarter earnings on May 3, 2022 before the market opens.

Analysts Bullish About 2022

The analysts are bullish going into the first quarter earnings report. 1 estimate was revised higher for 2022 in just the last week.

The 2022 Zacks Consensus Estimate has jumped to $1.23 from $1.05 just 90 days ago. That is earnings growth of 339% compared to last year where the company earned just $0.28.

Shares Tread Water: A Buying Opportunity?

The travel stocks were all hot in 2020 after the reopen. Xenia shares jumped 123% over the last 2 years, which beat the S&P 500 which was up just 81%.

However, over the last year, the shares are actually down 1.6% even as the outlook improved.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Xenia shares are cheap, with a forward P/E of 15.4. However, it still isn't paying any kind of dividend.

Travel is expected to continue to gain momentum this year.

For those looking for at attractively valued travel play, Xenia is one to keep on your short list.