Reviewing RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) & BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS (NYSE:BHR)

BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS (NYSE:BHR) and RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) are both small-cap real estate companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, dividends, profitability and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS and RLJ Lodging Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS	$689.13 million	0.19	-$22.32 million	($0.73)	-2.63
RLJ Lodging Trust	$1.35 billion	1.23	$28.51 million	N/A	N/A

RLJ Lodging Trust has higher revenue and earnings than BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS.

Dividends

BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS pays an annual dividend of $0.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.4%. RLJ Lodging Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS pays out -27.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. RLJ Lodging Trust has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS and RLJ Lodging Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS	1	2	0	0	1.67
RLJ Lodging Trust	3	5	2	0	1.90

BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS currently has a consensus price target of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 30.21%. RLJ Lodging Trust has a consensus price target of $11.11, indicating a potential upside of 1.66%. Given BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS is more favorable than RLJ Lodging Trust.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

64.8% of BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 92.3% of RLJ Lodging Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.2% of BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.7% of RLJ Lodging Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS and RLJ Lodging Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS	-0.45%	-1.92%	-0.17%
RLJ Lodging Trust	2.00%	1.52%	0.57%

Risk & Volatility

BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS has a beta of 0.79, suggesting that its stock price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, RLJ Lodging Trust has a beta of 1.08, suggesting that its stock price is 8% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

RLJ Lodging Trust beats BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About BRAEMAR HOTELS & RESORTS

Braemar Hotels & Resorts is a conservatively capitalized REIT that invests primarily in high RevPAR, full-service luxury hotels and resorts. We are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BHR and are externally-advised by Ashford (NYSE American: AINC).

About RLJ Lodging Trust

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns primarily premium-branded, high-margin, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The Company's portfolio currently consists of 96 hotels with approximately 21,200 rooms, located in 23 states and the District of Columbia and an ownership interest in one unconsolidated hotel with 171 rooms.