*** Another Strong Pick ***
Navigant International (FLYR)
Navigant is one of the five largest providers of corporate travel management services in the United States based on airline ticket sales. A provider of travel services primarily to corporate clients throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, Navigant represents a new and unique model for travel services providers. The Company currently has approximately 438 regional travel offices and on-site customer travel operations, including offices in 18 of the 25 largest U.S. business travel markets.
navigant.com
Relevant Financials
Revenue - $163.2M, Earnings - $4.17M, Excellent cash position
Outstanding Shares - 13.0M, Float - 2.0M
Market Cap - $95.9M, Price/Sales - 0.59, EPS - $0.32, P/E - 23.0
Institutional Ownership - 36%, Daily Volume - 201K shares
Recent Significant Developments
"Navigant International Reports Record Revenues for 2nd Quarter FY1999
Earnings Per Share $0.20 Versus $0.11; Revenues up 80 Percent Over Second Quarter Fiscal 1998 and Marks the Second Consecutive Quarter of Record Revenues"
biz.yahoo.com
"Navigant International Acquires First Agency in the Florida Market
Akra Travel Provides Presence in Growing Jacksonville Area"
biz.yahoo.com
"Navigant International, Inc. , one of the largest suppliers of corporate travel services in the U.S., today confirmed that most of its operating companies have sites on the World Wide Web, and that Navigant will be opening a centralized site, www.Navigant.com, in the first calendar quarter of 1999.
The Internet has always been part of our business plan,'' said Robert Griffith, Navigant's Chief Financial Officer. ''The Internet not only offers us the ability to sell leisure travel reservations online, it also can help us lower transaction costs for our business clients. The internet can also allow our corporate clients to access information about their accounts, their travel history, compliance with travel policy, and, ultimately, their costs. With this information, they can begin to manage their Travel and Entertainment budget, which is typically one of the largest, controllable items in a corporate budget. The Internet is just one more way we can serve our clients, and become an end-to-end service and information provider for corporations around the world."
biz.yahoo.com
Thoughts
Navigant is a company that is currently exhibiting strong growth. The corporate travel market is the most lucrative in the industry. It has larger margins and is growing more rapidly than the traditional consumer market. The company beat the last quarters earnings estimate by 33%. They are rated a strong buy with a 40% growth rate targeted for this years earnings. They will be launching a campaign to target more traditional customers through their new Internet presence. They will be able to leverage their corporate buying power to the consumer market which will enable them to offer better rate structures. There is also the possibility that they will start to offer vacation packages in addition to airline travel.
On the surface this firm has a lot to offer. I believe they have a better market position over their competitors. Other online travel companies don't measure up against Navigant (i.e. PTVL, IFLY). The next significant event will be their 3rd quarter earnings which should be reported towards the end of February.
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