American Hotel Income Properties REIT (OTCMKTS:AHOTF) & Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) Head to Head Survey

American Hotel Income Properties REIT (OTCMKTS:AHOTF) and Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares American Hotel Income Properties REIT and Sunstone Hotel Investors”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
American Hotel Income Properties REIT	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.06	6.25
Sunstone Hotel Investors	$1.00 billion	2.06	$24.57 million	$0.22	50.52

Sunstone Hotel Investors has higher revenue and earnings than American Hotel Income Properties REIT. American Hotel Income Properties REIT is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sunstone Hotel Investors, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for American Hotel Income Properties REIT and Sunstone Hotel Investors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
American Hotel Income Properties REIT	0	0	0	0	0.00
Sunstone Hotel Investors	1	6	0	1	2.12

Sunstone Hotel Investors has a consensus target price of $10.67, indicating a potential downside of 4.02%. Given Sunstone Hotel Investors’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Sunstone Hotel Investors is more favorable than American Hotel Income Properties REIT.

Profitability

This table compares American Hotel Income Properties REIT and Sunstone Hotel Investors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
American Hotel Income Properties REIT	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sunstone Hotel Investors	5.30%	3.21%	1.75%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

10.3% of American Hotel Income Properties REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.4% of Sunstone Hotel Investors shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Sunstone Hotel Investors shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

American Hotel Income Properties REIT pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 199.1%. Sunstone Hotel Investors pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. American Hotel Income Properties REIT pays out 1,245.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Sunstone Hotel Investors pays out 163.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Sunstone Hotel Investors has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Summary

Sunstone Hotel Investors beats American Hotel Income Properties REIT on 13 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About American Hotel Income Properties REIT

American Hotel Income Properties REIT LP (TSX: HOT.UN, TSX: HOT.U, TSX: HOT.DB.V), or AHIP, is a limited partnership formed to invest in hotel real estate properties across the United States. AHIP’s portfolio of premium branded, select-service hotels are located in secondary metropolitan markets that benefit from diverse and stable demand. AHIP hotels operate under brands affiliated with Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Choice Hotels through license agreements. AHIP’s long-term objectives are to build on its proven track record of successful investment, deliver monthly U.S. dollar denominated distributions to unitholders, and generate value through the continued growth of its diversified hotel portfolio.

About Sunstone Hotel Investors

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. is a lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT") that as of the date of this release owns 14 hotels comprised of 6,675 rooms, the majority of which are operated under nationally recognized brands. Sunstone's strategy is to create long-term stakeholder value through the acquisition, active ownership, and disposition of well-located hotel and resort real estate.