Comparing Sotherly Hotels (NASDAQ:SOHOB) and Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO)

Sotherly Hotels (NASDAQ:SOHOB) and Sunstone Hotel Investors (NYSE:SHO) are both real estate companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Sotherly Hotels and Sunstone Hotel Investors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Sotherly Hotels	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sunstone Hotel Investors	5.30%	3.21%	1.75%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Sotherly Hotels and Sunstone Hotel Investors”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Sotherly Hotels	$179.07 million	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Sunstone Hotel Investors	$960.13 million	2.11	$24.57 million	$0.22	49.57

Sunstone Hotel Investors has higher revenue and earnings than Sotherly Hotels.

Dividends

Sotherly Hotels pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 158.7%. Sunstone Hotel Investors pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Sunstone Hotel Investors pays out 163.6% 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 has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.4% of Sunstone Hotel Investors shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.4% of Sunstone Hotel Investors shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Sotherly Hotels and Sunstone Hotel Investors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Sotherly Hotels	0	0	0	0	0.00
Sunstone Hotel Investors	1	5	1	1	2.25

Sunstone Hotel Investors has a consensus target price of $10.67, indicating a potential downside of 2.19%. Given Sunstone Hotel Investors’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Sunstone Hotel Investors is more favorable than Sotherly Hotels.

Summary

Sunstone Hotel Investors beats Sotherly Hotels on 11 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Sotherly Hotels

Sotherly Hotels Inc. is a self-managed and self-administered lodging REIT focused on the acquisition, renovation, upbranding and repositioning of upscale to upper-upscale full-service hotels in the Southern United States. Sotherly may also opportunistically acquire hotels throughout the United States. Currently, the Company's portfolio consists of investments in ten hotel properties, comprising 2,786 rooms, as well as interests in two condominium hotels and their associated rental programs. The Company owns hotels that operate under the Hilton Worldwide and Hyatt Hotels Corporation brands, as well as independent hotels. Sotherly Hotels Inc. was organized in 2004 and is headquartered in Williamsburg, Virginia.

About Sunstone Hotel Investors

Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. is a lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT") that as of the date of this release owns 14 hotels comprised of 6,675 rooms, the majority of which are operated under nationally recognized brands. Sunstone's strategy is to create long-term stakeholder value through the acquisition, active ownership, and disposition of well-located hotel and resort real estate.