Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP) and Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE:AHT) Financial Survey

Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP) and Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE:AHT) are both real estate companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, profitability and valuation.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Ryman Hospitality Properties and Ashford Hospitality Trust”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ryman Hospitality Properties	$2.58 billion	3.27	$243.43 million	$4.09	32.63
Ashford Hospitality Trust	$1.10 billion	0.01	-$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.

Volatility & Risk

Ryman Hospitality Properties has a beta of 1.23, indicating that its stock price is 23% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ashford Hospitality Trust has a beta of 1.84, indicating that its stock price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500.

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	9.88%	29.45%	4.23%
Ashford Hospitality Trust	-6.12%	N/A	-2.42%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.5% of Ryman Hospitality Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.0% of Ashford Hospitality Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.2% of Ryman Hospitality Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Ashford Hospitality Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Ryman Hospitality Properties and Ashford Hospitality Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	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 target price of $135.25, indicating a potential upside of 1.35%. Given Ryman Hospitality Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Ryman Hospitality Properties is more favorable than Ashford Hospitality Trust.

Summary

Ryman Hospitality Properties beats Ashford Hospitality Trust on 14 of the 15 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.