Head to Head Analysis: CTO Realty Growth (NYSE:CTO) & Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE:PEB)

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE:PEB) and CTO Realty Growth (NYSE:CTO) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

67.2% of CTO Realty Growth shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.1% of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of CTO Realty Growth shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.04 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. CTO Realty Growth pays an annual dividend of $1.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.4%. Pebblebrook Hotel Trust pays out -3.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. CTO Realty Growth pays out -117.8% 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. CTO Realty Growth is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CTO Realty Growth has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and CTO Realty Growth’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust	-7.45%	-4.02%	-1.93%
CTO Realty Growth	-22.77%	-5.72%	-2.74%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and CTO Realty Growth, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust	5	6	1	1	1.85
CTO Realty Growth	1	1	2	1	2.60

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust presently has a consensus price target of $12.08, indicating a potential downside of 2.89%. CTO Realty Growth has a consensus price target of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.51%. Given CTO Realty Growth’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe CTO Realty Growth is more favorable than Pebblebrook Hotel Trust.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and CTO Realty Growth”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust	$1.45 billion	0.97	-$4.24 million	($1.19)	-10.46
CTO Realty Growth	$146.95 million	3.99	-$1.97 million	($1.29)	-14.03

CTO Realty Growth has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. CTO Realty Growth is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

CTO Realty Growth beats Pebblebrook Hotel Trust on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Pebblebrook Hotel Trust

Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust ("REIT") and the largest owner of urban and resort lifestyle hotels and resorts in the United States. The Company owns 47 hotels and resorts, totaling approximately 12,200 guest rooms across 13 urban and resort markets.

About CTO Realty Growth

CTO Realty Growth, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns and operates a portfolio of high-quality, retail-based properties located primarily in higher growth markets in the United States. CTO also externally manages and owns a meaningful interest in Alpine Income Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE: PINE), a publicly traded net lease REIT.