By Alex Oleinic

In the latest round of first-quarter 13F filings, David Cohen and Harold Levy's Iridian Asset Management has recently shared its equity portfolio, shedding light on how the hedge fund has been positioning itself over the past few months. Iridian typically focuses its efforts on finding value in depressed stocks going through significant managerial or structural changes. See the original 13F here.

Why this is important

Retail investors can benefit from watching hedge fund sentiment, as quantitative analyses have revealed that the best picks of the best money managers can beat the market by as much as 18 percentage points a year (discover the details of this strategy).

Numero uno

Hospitality company Wyndham Worldwide (WYN) has become the most valuable holding in the equity portfolio of Iridian Asset Management, the fund's 13F has revealed. David Cohen and Harold Levy's fund disclosed a $306.8 million

Q1 2013 Earnings Call

April 24, 2013 8:30 am ET

Executives

Margo C. Happer - Senior Vice President of Investor Relations

Stephen P. Holmes - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Executive Committee

Thomas G. Conforti - Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President

Analysts

Joseph Greff - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division

Steven E. Kent - Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division

Christopher Agnew - MKM Partners LLC, Research Division

Charles Patrick Scholes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., Research Division

Robert A. LaFleur - Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Research Division

Harry C. Curtis - Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., Research Division

Carlo Santarelli - Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Presentation

Operator

Welcome to the Wyndham Worldwide First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this

By Tracey RyniecWall

Street calls it "managing expectations."

The rest of us call it "earnings season."

Yet for all the talk about how good companies are at massaging their numbers so that they beat the EPS estimate, there are, surprisingly, very few that can actually beat consistently quarter after quarter, year after year.

Apple, for instance, used to be a member of this exclusive club. It hadn't missed for over 5 years until September 2011. Since that first miss, however, it has missed two out of the last four quarters.

In recent quarters, it seems to have gotten even more difficult to continue with these streaks. Oil States International was looking golden until last quarter when it missed by 11 cents, or 5.8%. AGCO also seemed to be on track to keep its hot streak but 2 quarters ago it suddenly missed by 5 cents, or 5%.

Never Missing

I

After three weeks of waiting, the S&P 500 finally joined the Dow in the record books. Last Thursday, the most widely tracked index in the United States closed at 1,569.19 -- taking out its previous all-time high of 1,565.15, which was hit on Oct. 9, 2007. Who cares? After all, it’s just a number, right? Well, I do. You'll recall that I went out on a limb and told you to expect it to happen. So I'd like to say, "I told you so!" (Just being honest.)

In all seriousness, though, the market hitting new records presents an opportunity for reflection. Or as Erik Davidson, deputy chief investment strategist at Wells Fargo Private Bank, says: "It is a milestone; it does cause you to stop and evaluate where you are and where you come from." Indeed. So let's do just that today. Let's slice and dice the data on

Stocks discussed on the in-depth session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Tuesday March 26.

Dell (DELL)

Dell (DELL) is a company in secular decline, and yet it is attracting suitors. CEO Michael Dell discussed taking the company private, but Dell is attracting bids. Cramer wonders why anyone would want to buy Dell. Its acquisitions to expand into consulting have not met with success, it is seeing declines in earnings, margins and revenue. Dell has no mobile, social or cloud exposure; it looks like a tech company from the 90s. Cramer wonders what kind of magic Michael Dell can work privately that he hasn't been able to publicly. Why is the company valued at $14 billion publicly, but some seem to think it is worth $26 billion. Ultimately, the winner will be the one who doesn't end up with Dell. Cramer thinks Michael Dell should sell Dell to

The Madness starts today, in fact, by the time you start reading this your bracket should already be filled out and submitted. Picking upsets is fun, but the real winner of your local pool will likely have selected the overall winner. I suggest that you pick THE Ohio State Buckeyes if you want to take it all down, but what four stocks could benefit from the Madness?

I scanned the list of Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and #2 (Buy) stocks to see which ones might correlate to the NCAA men's basketball tournament that starts today.

Traveling Teams

The Ohio State faithful travel with their team, be it football or basketball or just about any sport. The same can be said about many other teams, but main idea is that they are going to have to rest their travel weary heads on a soft pillow at the end of the

In order to develop a basis to invest in any company, it is important to attempt to understand the industry and market that the company's business model addresses. TripAdvisor Inc. (TRIP) is the world's largest online travel company (based on user-generated content), empowering users to plan for their travel needs. TripAdvisor's travel research platform aggregates reviews and opinions from its community regarding destinations, accommodations (including hotels, resorts, motels, bed and breakfasts, or B&Bs, specialty lodging, and vacation rentals), restaurants and activities throughout the world.

Since TripAdvisor was spun-off by Expedia Inc. (EXPE) in December 2011, the stock price has more than doubled. The current environment for the stock market is highly bullish at the moment, so TripAdvisor's stock price growth is not atypical. This analysis will attempt to provide transparency as to what extent TripAdvisor is or can be a leader in the online advertising market within the travel

By Chad Mollman

Among the global hotel operators we cover, we expect the companies that both manage and franchise hotels to generate the strongest growth and financial performance over the course of the cycle. Managed and franchised hotel operators have sticky, fee-based management and franchise agreements with high switching costs, resulting in well-established economic moats, high margins and returns on invested capital, lower capital expenditure requirements, and less-cyclical financial results. Long term, we expect InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), Marriott International (MAR), and Starwood Hotels & Resorts (HOT) to generate the strongest financial results in the sector, but before building a position in these stocks, we'd wait for a price pullback leading to a compelling margin of safety; an uptick in employment growth; and reacceleration in industry revenue per available room growth.

Operators that both manage and franchise hotels have greater exposure to emerging markets and stronger unit

Stocks discussed on the in-depth session of Jim Cramer's Mad Money TV Program, Tuesday March 12.

MasterCard (MA), Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS), Best Buy (BBY), Sherwin Williams (SHW), Boeing (BA), Silver Wheaton (SLW), Barrick Gold (ABX), CVR Refining (CVRR)

With the Dow up for the 8th straight day, Cramer thinks it might be time to take a pause before buying selected stocks. He doesn't trust many analysts who are suddenly turning bullish; "I don't like these newfound bullish fellow travelers." However, Cramer still likes the market, even though MasterCard (MA) and Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS) disappointed. Retailers are indicating that the consumer is strong, Cramer believes the 1 million projected new homes is a conservative number, and last week's jobs update was an indication of strength. However, he pointed out that the Dow moved up for 8 straight days only 5 times in the last 12 years, so the

When a company has a long-term track record of consistent and rising dividend payments, it is a clear indicator that the company's financial position is good. Investing in companies that regularly raise dividends provides security in an uncertain market and means higher returns ahead.

I tried to determine if the five stocks that have the highest dividend growth record among the stocks included in the S&P 500 index are currently a bargain

In this article, I will give the corresponding fundamental parameters for these five companies and my own opinion about them. Nonetheless, these data and my opinion should only serve as a basis for further research. All the data for this article were taken from Yahoo Finance and finviz.com on February 26, before the market open.

The table and the chart below present the top five highest dividend growers, their forward annual dividend rate, the forward yield, the payout

Q4 2012 Earnings Call

February 06, 2013 8:30 am ET

Executives

Margo C. Happer - Senior Vice President of Investor Relations

Stephen P. Holmes - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Executive Committee

Thomas G. Conforti - Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President

Analysts

Joseph Greff - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division

Steven E. Kent - Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division

Charles Patrick Scholes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., Research Division

Christopher Agnew - MKM Partners LLC, Research Division

Carlo Santarelli - Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division

Nikhil Bhalla - FBR Capital Markets & Co., Research Division

Robert A. LaFleur - Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Research Division

Presentation

Operator

Welcome to the Wyndham Worldwide Fourth Quarter Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Today's conference is being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. I would now like to

About 18 months ago, I reviewed several hotel stocks in an article. For long investors, I suggested Wyndham Worldwide Corp. (WYN) due to its strong asset return performance, good dividend yield and other attributes. I also suggested The Marcus Corporation (MCS) for dividend investors. In 2012, MCS paid $0.34 in dividends, excluding what appears to be a special $1.17 December dividend. For a little more risk, I suggested Orient-Express Hotels, Ltd. (OEH) as a possible turn around opportunity. This article will revisit those suggestions and see how they performed. The following table revisits the performance of those stocks.

Hotel Stock Performance

There's been a lot of talk over the last few weeks about investors selling long-term winners to lock in gains before capital gains taxes go up in 2013. Apple (AAPL) has been the main talking point since it's down 8.90% since election day.

The average S&P 500 stock is currently down 0.06% (basically flat) since the close on election day on November 6th. Below is a list of the 30 best performing stocks in the S&P 500 since the bull market began

Investing in companies that regularly raise dividends provides security in an uncertain market and means higher returns ahead. I have searched for very profitable companies that pay rich dividends and that raise their payouts significantly each year. Those stocks would have to show stable financial conditions and generate strong free cash flow.

I have elaborated a screening method, which shows stock candidates following these lines. Nonetheless, the screening method should only serve as a basis for further research.

The screen's formula requires all stocks to comply with all following demands:

1. The stock is included in the Russell 3000 index. Russell Investment explanation:

The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the largest 3000 U.S. companies representing approximately 98% of the investable U.S. equity market. The Russell 3000 Index is constructed to provide a comprehensive, unbiased, and stable barometer of the broad market and is completely reconstituted annually to

I searched for very profitable companies with strong growth prospects that pay significant dividends.

I have elaborated a screening method, which shows stock candidates following these lines. Nonetheless, the screening method should only serve as a basis for further research.

The screen's formula requires all stocks to comply with all following demands:

1. The stock is included in the Russell 3000 index. Russell Investment explanation:

The Russell 3000 Index measures the performance of the largest 3000 U.S. companies representing approximately 98% of the investable U.S. equity market. The Russell 3000 Index is constructed to provide a comprehensive, unbiased, and stable barometer of the broad market and is completely reconstituted annually to ensure new and growing equities are reflected.

2. Earnings growth estimates for the next 5 years (per annum) is greater than 15%.

3. Dividend yield is greater than 1.4%.

4. The forward P/E is less than 14.

5.

Q3 2012 Earnings Call

October 24, 2012 8:30 am ET

Executives

Margo C. Happer - Senior Vice President of Investor Relations

Stephen P. Holmes - Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Executive Committee

Thomas G. Conforti - Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President

Analysts

Steven E. Kent - Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division

Joseph Greff - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division

Carlo Santarelli - Deutsche Bank AG, Research Division

Christopher Agnew - MKM Partners LLC, Research Division

Charles Patrick Scholes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., Research Division

Nikhil Bhalla - FBR Capital Markets & Co., Research Division

Robert A. LaFleur - Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Research Division

Harry C. Curtis - Nomura Securities Co. Ltd., Research Division

Michael Millman - Millman Research Associates

Presentation

Operator

Welcome to the Wyndham Worldwide Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] Today's conference is being recorded.

Tuesday, Hospitality Properties Trust (HPT) raised its dividend payout 4.4% to a quarterly $0.47. Shares of this REIT now yield over 8%. Shares of Hospitality Properties Trust remained unaffected by the increase payout. Shares ended the day trading at $23.40, stuck in the middle of their fifty two week range of $19.77 to $27.00.

Hospitality Properties Trust owns hotels in 44 states in the United States, and also has properties in Puerto Rico, and Canada. The company remains the only hotel REIT with investment grade debt ratings. Hospitality Properties has a total of $7.0 billion in its investment portfolio of hotels and travel centers. The company owns 475 properties, consisting of 290 hotels and 185 travel centers (as of June 30, 2012). Here is a look at the portfolio by value:

· 185 Travel Centers of America (TA): $2.6 billion

· 123 Marriott International (MAR), 17,712 rooms: $1.7 billion

·

Valuation (Undervalued)

We believe Marriott International to be fairly valued on an absolute basis but undervalued on a relative basis. On an absolute basis, Marriott International's 2013 P/E based on consensus analyst estimates currently stands at 19.3x, which we believe to approximate fair value, given its projected 2013 EPS growth of 19%. On a relative basis when compared to its publicly traded comparables, Marriott International is valued at a