Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE:AHT – Get Free Report) and COPT Defense Properties (NYSE:CDP – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, earnings, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.
Dividends
Ashford Hospitality Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 29.7%. COPT Defense Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.18 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Ashford Hospitality Trust pays out -7.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. COPT Defense Properties pays out -109.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Ashford Hospitality Trust and COPT Defense Properties”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
Ashford Hospitality Trust | $1.28 billion | 0.03 | -$178.49 million | ($3.17) | -0.25 |
COPT Defense Properties | $684.98 million | 4.95 | -$73.47 million | ($1.08) | -27.87 |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Ashford Hospitality Trust and COPT Defense Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.
Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
Ashford Hospitality Trust | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
COPT Defense Properties | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2.63 |
Ashford Hospitality Trust presently has a consensus price target of $2.50, indicating a potential upside of 209.48%. COPT Defense Properties has a consensus price target of $30.00, indicating a potential downside of 0.33%. Given Ashford Hospitality Trust’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Ashford Hospitality Trust is more favorable than COPT Defense Properties.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
41.0% of Ashford Hospitality Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Ashford Hospitality Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of COPT Defense Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Risk and Volatility
Ashford Hospitality Trust has a beta of 2.35, meaning that its share price is 135% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, COPT Defense Properties has a beta of 0.99, meaning that its share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Ashford Hospitality Trust and COPT Defense Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
Ashford Hospitality Trust | 2.25% | -10.52% | 0.82% |
COPT Defense Properties | -15.75% | -7.52% | -2.71% |
Summary
Ashford Hospitality Trust beats COPT Defense Properties on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Ashford Hospitality Trust
Ashford Hospitality Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on investing predominantly in upper upscale, full-service hotels.
About COPT Defense Properties
COPT Defense, an S&P MidCap 400 Company, is a self-managed REIT focused on owning, operating and developing properties in locations proximate to, or sometimes containing, key U.S. Government (USG) defense installations and missions (referred to as its Defense/IT Portfolio). The Company's tenants include the USG and their defense contractors, who are primarily engaged in priority national security activities, and who generally require mission-critical and high security property enhancements. As of December 31, 2023, the Company's Defense/IT Portfolio of 190 properties, including 24 owned through unconsolidated joint ventures, encompassed 21.7 million square feet and was 97.2% leased.
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