Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP) and RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Financial Survey

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) and Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP) are both real estate companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, dividends and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

92.3% of RLJ Lodging Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.5% of Ryman Hospitality Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of RLJ Lodging Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 3.2% of Ryman Hospitality Properties shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares RLJ Lodging Trust and Ryman Hospitality Properties”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RLJ Lodging Trust	$1.35 billion	1.25	$28.51 million	N/A	N/A
Ryman Hospitality Properties	$2.58 billion	3.04	$243.43 million	$4.09	30.36

Ryman Hospitality Properties has higher revenue and earnings than RLJ Lodging Trust.

Dividends

RLJ Lodging Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.4%. Ryman Hospitality Properties pays an annual dividend of $4.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Ryman Hospitality Properties pays out 117.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. RLJ Lodging Trust has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Ryman Hospitality Properties has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. RLJ Lodging Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for RLJ Lodging Trust and Ryman Hospitality Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RLJ Lodging Trust	3	5	2	0	1.90
Ryman Hospitality Properties	0	1	11	0	2.92

RLJ Lodging Trust presently has a consensus target price of $10.94, indicating a potential downside of 0.87%. Ryman Hospitality Properties has a consensus target price of $129.73, indicating a potential upside of 4.48%. Given Ryman Hospitality Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Ryman Hospitality Properties is more favorable than RLJ Lodging Trust.

Profitability

This table compares RLJ Lodging Trust and Ryman Hospitality Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RLJ Lodging Trust	2.00%	1.52%	0.57%
Ryman Hospitality Properties	9.91%	34.54%	4.39%

Volatility & Risk

RLJ Lodging Trust has a beta of 1.09, indicating that its share price is 9% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ryman Hospitality Properties has a beta of 1.2, indicating that its share price is 20% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Ryman Hospitality Properties beats RLJ Lodging Trust on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About RLJ Lodging Trust

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns primarily premium-branded, high-margin, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The Company's portfolio currently consists of 96 hotels with approximately 21,200 rooms, located in 23 states and the District of Columbia and an ownership interest in one unconsolidated hotel with 171 rooms.

About Ryman Hospitality Properties

Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP) is a leading lodging and hospitality real estate investment trust that specializes in upscale convention center resorts and entertainment experiences. The Company's holdings include Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center; and Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, five of the top seven largest non-gaming convention center hotels in the United States based on total indoor meeting space. The Company also owns the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa as well as two ancillary hotels adjacent to our Gaylord Hotels properties. The Company's hotel portfolio is managed by Marriott International and includes a combined total of 11,414 rooms as well as more than 3 million square feet of total indoor and outdoor meeting space in top convention and leisure destinations across the country. RHP also owns a 70% controlling ownership interest in Opry Entertainment Group (OEG), which is composed of entities owning a growing collection of iconic and emerging country music brands, including the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium, WSM 650 AM, Ole Red, Nashville-area attractions, and Block 21, a mixed-use entertainment, lodging, office and retail complex, including the W Austin Hotel and the ACL Live at the Moody Theater, located in downtown Austin, Texas. RHP operates OEG as its Entertainment segment in a taxable REIT subsidiary, and its results are consolidated in the Company's financial results.