RLJ Lodging Trust (RLJ) Competitors

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) and Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, media sentiment, risk, valuation, dividends, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Is RLJ or HST a better dividend stock?

RLJ Lodging Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. Host Hotels & Resorts pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.3%. RLJ Lodging Trust pays out 230.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Host Hotels & Resorts pays out 85.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. RLJ Lodging Trust has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Host Hotels & Resorts has increased 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.

Is RLJ or HST more profitable?

Host Hotels & Resorts has a net margin of 11.12% compared to RLJ Lodging Trust's net margin of 4.84%. Host Hotels & Resorts' return on equity of 9.90% beat RLJ Lodging Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RLJ Lodging Trust	4.84%	3.43%	1.36%
Host Hotels & Resorts	11.12%	9.90%	5.07%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of RLJ or HST?

92.4% of RLJ Lodging Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.5% of Host Hotels & Resorts shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of RLJ Lodging Trust shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.4% of Host Hotels & Resorts shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, RLJ or HST?

Host Hotels & Resorts has higher revenue and earnings than RLJ Lodging Trust. Host Hotels & Resorts is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than RLJ Lodging Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RLJ Lodging Trust	$1.37B	0.81	$68.02M	$0.26	28.25
Host Hotels & Resorts	$5.68B	1.83	$697M	$0.94	16.12

Does the media refer more to RLJ or HST?

In the previous week, Host Hotels & Resorts had 19 more articles in the media than RLJ Lodging Trust. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Host Hotels & Resorts and 5 mentions for RLJ Lodging Trust. RLJ Lodging Trust's average media sentiment score of 1.81 beat Host Hotels & Resorts' score of 0.79 indicating that RLJ Lodging Trust is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
RLJ Lodging Trust	5 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Host Hotels & Resorts	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend RLJ or HST?

RLJ Lodging Trust presently has a consensus price target of $9.25, indicating a potential upside of 25.94%. Host Hotels & Resorts has a consensus price target of $17.88, indicating a potential upside of 17.95%. Given RLJ Lodging Trust's higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe RLJ Lodging Trust is more favorable than Host Hotels & Resorts.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RLJ Lodging Trust	1 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.20
Host Hotels & Resorts	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58

Which has more risk & volatility, RLJ or HST?

RLJ Lodging Trust has a beta of 1.54, suggesting that its stock price is 54% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Host Hotels & Resorts has a beta of 1.34, suggesting that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Host Hotels & Resorts beats RLJ Lodging Trust on 12 of the 19 factors compared between the two stocks.