Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP – Get Free Report) and Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE:AHT – Get Free Report) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
94.5% of Ryman Hospitality Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.0% of Ashford Hospitality Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 3.2% of Ryman Hospitality Properties shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Ashford Hospitality Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Dividends
Ryman Hospitality Properties pays an annual dividend of $4.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.6%. Ashford Hospitality Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 9.3%. 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. Ashford Hospitality Trust pays out -0.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Ryman Hospitality Properties has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Ashford Hospitality Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Ryman Hospitality Properties and Ashford Hospitality Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Ryman Hospitality Properties | 0 | 1 | 12 | 1 | 3.00 |
| Ashford Hospitality Trust | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.50 |
Ryman Hospitality Properties currently has a consensus price target of $135.25, indicating a potential upside of 0.52%. Given Ryman Hospitality Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Ryman Hospitality Properties is more favorable than Ashford Hospitality Trust.
Volatility & Risk
Ryman Hospitality Properties has a beta of 1.22, suggesting that its stock price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ashford Hospitality Trust has a beta of 1.82, suggesting that its stock price is 82% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Ryman Hospitality Properties and Ashford Hospitality Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Ryman Hospitality Properties | $2.74 billion | 3.10 | $243.43 million | $4.09 | 32.90 |
| Ashford Hospitality Trust | $1.07 billion | 0.02 | -$179.84 million | ($33.09) | -0.08 |
Ryman Hospitality Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Ashford Hospitality Trust. Ashford Hospitality Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Ryman Hospitality Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Profitability
This table compares Ryman Hospitality Properties and Ashford Hospitality Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Ryman Hospitality Properties | 9.91% | 34.54% | 4.39% |
| Ashford Hospitality Trust | -6.12% | N/A | -2.42% |
Summary
Ryman Hospitality Properties beats Ashford Hospitality Trust on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Ashford Hospitality Trust
Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc., together with its subsidiaries (Ashford Trust), is a real estate investment trust (REIT). While our portfolio currently consists of upscale hotels and upper upscale full-service hotels, our investment strategy is predominantly focused on investing in upper upscale full-service hotels in the United States that have revenue per available room (RevPAR) generally less than twice the U.S. national average, and in all methods including direct real estate, equity, and debt. We currently anticipate future investments will predominantly be in upper upscale hotels. We own our lodging investments and conduct our business through Ashford Hospitality Limited Partnership (Ashford Trust OP), our operating partnership. Ashford OP General Partner LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ashford Trust, serves as the sole general partner of our operating partnership.
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