Analyzing Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) and Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD)

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) and Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, valuation, dividends and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Americold Realty Trust and Host Hotels & Resorts, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Americold Realty Trust	3	10	4	0	2.06
Host Hotels & Resorts	0	6	9	1	2.69

Americold Realty Trust presently has a consensus target price of $14.30, suggesting a potential upside of 24.75%. Host Hotels & Resorts has a consensus target price of $20.43, suggesting a potential upside of 6.73%. Given Americold Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Americold Realty Trust is more favorable than Host Hotels & Resorts.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Americold Realty Trust	-4.40%	-3.71%	-1.43%
Host Hotels & Resorts	12.51%	11.54%	5.89%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.1% of Americold Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.5% of Host Hotels & Resorts shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Americold Realty 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 company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Americold Realty Trust and Host Hotels & Resorts”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Americold Realty Trust	$2.60 billion	1.26	-$114.55 million	($0.40)	-28.66
Host Hotels & Resorts	$6.11 billion	2.15	$765.00 million	$1.10	17.40

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

Risk and Volatility

Americold Realty Trust has a beta of 0.9, indicating that its stock price is 10% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Host Hotels & Resorts has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Americold Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.92 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.0%. Host Hotels & Resorts pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Americold Realty Trust pays out -230.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Host Hotels & Resorts pays out 72.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Americold Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years and Host Hotels & Resorts has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Americold Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Host Hotels & Resorts beats Americold Realty Trust on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Americold Realty Trust

Americold Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on the ownership, operation, development, and acquisition of temperature-controlled warehouses. It operates through the following segments: Warehouse, Third-Party Managed, Transportation, and Other. The Warehouse segment collects rent and storage fees from customers to store frozen and perishable food and other products within the firm’s real estate portfolio. The Third-Party Managed segment manages warehouses on behalf of third parties and provides warehouse management services to food retailers and manufacturers in customer-owned facilities. The Transportation segment is involved in brokering and managing transportation of frozen and perishable food and other products. The Other segment includes ownership in a limestone quarry in Carthage, Missouri. The company was founded in 1931 and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

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.