Critical Contrast: Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) vs. Sotherly Hotels (OTCMKTS:SOHON)

Sotherly Hotels (OTCMKTS:SOHON) and Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, risk, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership and dividends.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.5% of Host Hotels & Resorts shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Host Hotels & Resorts shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Sotherly Hotels and Host Hotels & Resorts, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sotherly Hotels	0	0	0	0	0.00
Host Hotels & Resorts	0	6	9	1	2.69

Host Hotels & Resorts has a consensus target price of $24.33, suggesting a potential upside of 5.75%. Given Host Hotels & Resorts’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Host Hotels & Resorts is more favorable than Sotherly Hotels.

Dividends

Sotherly Hotels pays an annual dividend of $2.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 77.7%. Host Hotels & Resorts pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Host Hotels & Resorts pays out 53.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Host Hotels & Resorts has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sotherly Hotels and Host Hotels & Resorts”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sotherly Hotels	$176.39 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Host Hotels & Resorts	$6.11 billion	2.58	$765.00 million	$1.50	15.34

Host Hotels & Resorts has higher revenue and earnings than Sotherly Hotels.

Profitability

This table compares Sotherly Hotels and Host Hotels & Resorts’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sotherly Hotels	N/A	N/A	N/A
Host Hotels & Resorts	16.51%	15.53%	7.83%

Summary

Host Hotels & Resorts beats Sotherly Hotels on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sotherly Hotels

Sotherly Hotels Inc. is a self-managed and self-administered lodging REIT focused on the acquisition, renovation, upbranding and repositioning of upscale to upper-upscale full-service hotels in the Southern United States. Sotherly may also opportunistically acquire hotels throughout the United States. Currently, the Company's portfolio consists of investments in ten hotel properties, comprising 2,786 rooms, as well as interests in two condominium hotels and their associated rental programs. The Company owns hotels that operate under the Hilton Worldwide and Hyatt Hotels Corporation brands, as well as independent hotels. Sotherly Hotels Inc. was organized in 2004 and is headquartered in Williamsburg, Virginia.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the management of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Brazil, and Canada. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.