Sunstone Hotel Investors (SHO) Competitors

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) and Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, media sentiment, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in HST or SHO?

98.5% of Host Hotels & Resorts shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 99.4% of Sunstone Hotel Investors shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Host Hotels & Resorts shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Sunstone Hotel Investors shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Does the media refer more to HST or SHO?

In the previous week, Host Hotels & Resorts had 20 more articles in the media than Sunstone Hotel Investors. MarketBeat recorded 24 mentions for Host Hotels & Resorts and 4 mentions for Sunstone Hotel Investors. Sunstone Hotel Investors' average media sentiment score of 1.61 beat Host Hotels & Resorts' score of 1.31 indicating that Sunstone Hotel Investors is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Host Hotels & Resorts	12 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Sunstone Hotel Investors	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive

Which has better earnings and valuation, HST or SHO?

Host Hotels & Resorts has higher revenue and earnings than Sunstone Hotel Investors. Host Hotels & Resorts 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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Host Hotels & Resorts	$5.68B	2.05	$697M	$0.94	17.99
Sunstone Hotel Investors	$905.81M	2.00	$43.26M	$0.02	477.75

Which has more volatility & risk, HST or SHO?

Host Hotels & Resorts has a beta of 1.34, indicating that its stock price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sunstone Hotel Investors has a beta of 1.3, indicating that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HST or SHO a better dividend stock?

Host Hotels & Resorts pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.7%. Sunstone Hotel Investors pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. 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. Sunstone Hotel Investors pays out 1,800.0% 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 has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Sunstone Hotel Investors has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Host Hotels & Resorts is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Is HST or SHO more profitable?

Host Hotels & Resorts has a net margin of 11.12% compared to Sunstone Hotel Investors' net margin of 2.15%. Host Hotels & Resorts' return on equity of 9.90% beat Sunstone Hotel Investors' return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Host Hotels & Resorts	11.12%	9.90%	5.07%
Sunstone Hotel Investors	2.15%	1.12%	0.65%

Do analysts prefer HST or SHO?

Host Hotels & Resorts presently has a consensus price target of $17.50, indicating a potential upside of 3.49%. Sunstone Hotel Investors has a consensus price target of $9.07, indicating a potential downside of 5.06%. Given Host Hotels & Resorts' stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Host Hotels & Resorts is more favorable than Sunstone Hotel Investors.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Host Hotels & Resorts	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.55
Sunstone Hotel Investors	2 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.00

Summary

Host Hotels & Resorts beats Sunstone Hotel Investors on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.