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ResortQuest
stock moves higher
after 26% gain

The heavy volume prompts
the NYSE to look into
the activity

By Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin

Shares of ResortQuest International Inc. continued to climb on the New York Stock Exchange today after a spurt of activity that pushed it up 26 percent in one day and brought a query from NYSE officials. The stock, which rose 69 cents to $7.37 today, now has gained 60.5 percent over the last eight trading sessions.

The NYSE yesterday asked the Memphis, Tenn.-based parent of Hawaii-based Aston Hotels & Resorts and two dozen other vacation businesses to explain the "unusual" activity in its stock.

The company declined to comment. "It's our company policy not to comment on any stock activity," said David Selberg, ResortQuest vice president of finance.

The stock, which traded a record volume of 186,700 shares yesterday, saw another 143,400 shares exchange hands today. The stock is now up nearly 79 percent so far in 2000.

Barry Rothberg, an analyst at ING Barings in New York, said investors recognize that it is "a good company with an interesting strategy" whose shares had been depressed by lower earnings. "Some people like to bottomfish," said Rothberg, who issued a favorable report on ResortQuest in January. ResortQuest was formed in May 1998 as a new public company to combine Aston and 12 mainland vacation-rental businesses. It has since more than doubled in size through more acquisitions.