Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) versus RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) Financial Contrast

RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE:RLJ) and Alexander & Baldwin (NYSE:ALEX) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation and institutional ownership.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares RLJ Lodging Trust and Alexander & Baldwin”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
RLJ Lodging Trust	$1.37 billion	0.85	$68.02 million	$0.05	154.30
Alexander & Baldwin	$236.67 million	6.34	$60.54 million	$1.01	20.43

RLJ Lodging Trust has higher revenue and earnings than Alexander & Baldwin. Alexander & Baldwin is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than RLJ Lodging Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility and Risk

RLJ Lodging Trust has a beta of 1.16, suggesting that its stock price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alexander & Baldwin has a beta of 1, suggesting that its stock price has a similar volatility profile to the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares RLJ Lodging Trust and Alexander & Baldwin’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
RLJ Lodging Trust	2.48%	1.78%	0.69%
Alexander & Baldwin	33.62%	7.29%	4.45%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for RLJ Lodging Trust and Alexander & Baldwin, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
RLJ Lodging Trust	3	3	2	1	2.11
Alexander & Baldwin	0	5	0	0	2.00

RLJ Lodging Trust presently has a consensus target price of $9.08, indicating a potential upside of 17.74%. Alexander & Baldwin has a consensus target price of $20.95, indicating a potential upside of 1.54%. Given RLJ Lodging Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe RLJ Lodging Trust is more favorable than Alexander & Baldwin.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.4% of RLJ Lodging Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 91.3% of Alexander & Baldwin shares are held by institutional investors. 2.9% of RLJ Lodging Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.7% of Alexander & Baldwin shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

RLJ Lodging Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.8%. Alexander & Baldwin pays an annual dividend of $1.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. RLJ Lodging Trust pays out 1,200.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Alexander & Baldwin pays out 138.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. RLJ Lodging Trust has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Alexander & Baldwin has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Summary

RLJ Lodging Trust beats Alexander & Baldwin on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Alexander & Baldwin

Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. engages in the real estate business. It operates through the Commercial Real Estate and Land Operations segments. The Commercial Real Estate segment includes investments and acquisitions, construction and development, and in-house leasing and property management. The Land Operations segment consists of legacy landholdings, assets, and liabilities subject to the company’s simplification and monetization effort. The company was founded by Samuel Thomas Alexander and Henry Perrine Baldwin in 1870 and is headquartered in Honolulu, HI.