This week, I'm looking for the fourth consumer cyclical sector representative of five for my Ivy portfolio.

That cyclicals sector includes twenty-eight industries ranging from Advertising Agencies to Apparel, Autos, Broadcasting, Department Stores, Gambling, Leisure, Lodging, Packaging, Personal Services, Shoes, Restaurants, Rubber, Plastics, Textiles, and all such consumer aimed enterprises.

Today I'm reviewing a mid-cap lodging company, named Extended Stay America Inc. Its trading ticker symbol is STAY.  I last reported on this company on December 24, 2017.

Extended Stay America Inc owns and operates company-branded hotels in North America. Its business operates in the extended stay lodging industry. It operates hotels under brand names Extended Stay America, Extended Stay Canada and Crossland Economy Studios.

As of February 27, 2019, the company had a network of 627 hotels. It serves customers in the mid-priced extended stay segment. The company also relicenses Extended Stay America brand to third party franchisees.

Extended Stay America, Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Cedar Fair Management, Inc. serves as the general partner of Cedar Fair, L.P. The company was founded in 1983 and is based in Sandusky, Ohio.

I use three key data points to gauge the value of any dividend equity-like Extended Stay America Inc:

(1) Price

(2) Dividends

(3) Returns

Besides those three, several other keys will finally unlock an equity or fund in which to invest.

Those first three primary keys, however, best tell whether a company has made, is making, and will make money.

STAY Price

Stay's price per share closed at $18.11 yesterday. A year ago its price was $19. 40. The price fell $1.29 or 6.65% in the past year.

Assuming Extended Stay's stock trades in the range of $15 to $22 this year, Extended Stay's recent $18.11 price could rise by $2.89 and go to $21.00 by late-March, 2020.

STAY Dividends

Extended Stay's most recent Quarterly dividend was $0.22 declared in February and paid March 28th.

That $0.22 Q dividend equates to an annual payout of $0.88 for a yield of 4.86% at yesterday's $18.11 closing price.

Gains For STAY?

Adding the $0.88 annual estimated dividend to my $2.89 estimate of Extended Stay's price upside shows a $3.77 potential gross annual gain, per share, which will be reduced by costs to trade those shares.

Say we put a little under $1,000.00 today at the $18.11 recent stock price would buy us 55 Extended Stay America Inc shares.

A $10 broker fee paid half at purchase and half at sale costs $0.18 per share.

Subtract that $0.18 brokerage cost from the estimated $3.77 gross annual gain leaves a net gain of $3.59 X 55 shares

= $197.45 or a 19.75% net gain on a $996.05 investment.

Therefore, Extended Stay America Inc whose trading ticker symbol is STAY, now shows a possible net gain of nearly 20% including a 4.86% dividend yield.

Twelve brokers cover this stock:

Five say "buy" STAY shares.

Five say STAY will "outperform" peers.

Two say "hold" STAY shares.

Therefore, you can look at Extended Stay America Inc and see it has made money, is making money, and could throw a net gain of about 19.75% including a 4.86% dividend yield. It could be more, it could be less.

The above speculation is based on past year performance. The actual results remain to be seen to determine if Extended Stay America Inc is worth your time and money.