Critical Review: Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) versus Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM)

Host Hotels & Resorts (NASDAQ:HST) and Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation and dividends.

Volatility & Risk

Host Hotels & Resorts has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Piedmont Realty Trust has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its stock price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Host Hotels & Resorts and Piedmont Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Host Hotels & Resorts	0	6	8	1	2.67
Piedmont Realty Trust	1	1	1	0	2.00

Host Hotels & Resorts currently has a consensus price target of $21.08, suggesting a potential upside of 4.65%. Piedmont Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.49%. Given Piedmont Realty Trust’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Piedmont Realty Trust is more favorable than Host Hotels & Resorts.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

98.5% of Host Hotels & Resorts shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 1.4% of Host Hotels & Resorts shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Host Hotels & Resorts and Piedmont Realty Trust”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Host Hotels & Resorts	$6.11 billion	2.26	$765.00 million	$1.10	18.31
Piedmont Realty Trust	$564.99 million	1.57	-$83.62 million	($0.68)	-10.46

Host Hotels & Resorts has higher revenue and earnings than Piedmont Realty Trust. Piedmont Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Host Hotels & Resorts, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Host Hotels & Resorts and Piedmont Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Host Hotels & Resorts	12.51%	11.54%	5.89%
Piedmont Realty Trust	-14.80%	-5.44%	-2.09%

Summary

Host Hotels & Resorts beats Piedmont Realty Trust on 13 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the management of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. It operates through the following geographical segments: United States, Brazil, and Canada. The company was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.

About Piedmont Realty Trust

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. The Company was designated an Energy Star Partner of the Year for 2021, 2022 and 2023, and it was the only office REIT headquartered in the Southeast to receive those designations. Approximately 85% of the Company's square footage is Energy Star certified and nearly 70% is LEED certified. Piedmont is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.