Marriott Boosts Investors' Sentiments With a 6% Dividend Hike

Marriott International, Inc. MAR has been following an incremental dividend policy since the early 2000s. In sync with this, it recently boosted its investors’ sentiments again with a quarterly dividend hike.

The board of directors approved a quarterly dividend payout of 67 cents per share ($2.68 per share annually), which is up 6.3% from the previous dividend payout of 63 cents ($2.52 per share annually). The amount will be paid out on June 30, 2025, to shareholders of record as of May 23. Based on the closing price of $257.97 per share on Friday, the stock has a dividend yield of 1%.

This strategic move by the company underscores a strong cash position and notable earnings growth in its recently reported quarterly results. (read more: Marriott Q1 Earnings Surpass Estimates, Revenues Lag, RevPAR Rises Y/Y)

What Bolstered Marriott’s Dividend Hike?

Marriott focuses on an incremental capital allocation strategy, which highlights investments made in growth opportunities that prove incremental to shareholder value and returns the excess cash flow to its shareholders through a strategic mix of share repurchases and dividends. This specific dividend hike is mainly supported by its strong cash flow generation in the first quarter of 2025, which highlights a favorable quarterly performance driven by continued travel demand growth, fee-driven business model and elevated global development activity.

As of March 31, 2025, Marriott has cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash of $546 million, up from $448 million at 2024-end. Its short-term obligation at the first-quarter 2025 end declined to $959 million from $1.31 billion at 2024-end. Such an effort is noteworthy while understanding the liquidity position and long-term prospects of a company.

Year to date through April 29, 2025, the company returned $1.2 billion to its shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Moreover, it repurchased 3.9 million shares during the said time frame, worth $1 billion. For 2025, Marriott expects to return approximately $4 billion to its shareholders after incurring capital expenditure worth $355 million for the citizenM acquisition transaction.

MAR Stock Price Performance

Shares of this worldwide hospitality company focused on lodging management and franchising have gained 15.4% in the past month, outperforming the Zacks Hotels and Motels industry’s 13.6% growth.

Moving through 2025 and beyond, the company’s strategic in-house initiatives, diversified global portfolio and Marriott Bonvoy travel platform and top-tier loyalty program are expected to support growth amid the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties.

MAR’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Marriott currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Here are some better-ranked stocks from the Consumer Discretionary sector.

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Laureate Education, Inc. LAUR presently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 56.1%, on average. The stock has moved up 25.8% in the year-to-date period.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Laureate’s 2025 sales and EPS indicates growth of 0.3% and 23.7%, respectively, from the year-ago period’s levels.

Stride, Inc. LRN currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1. The company has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 94.7%, on average. The stock has gained 38.4% in the year-to-date period.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Stride’s fiscal 2025 sales and EPS indicates an increase of 16.7% and 51.2%, respectively, from the year-ago levels.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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