Reviewing Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT) and Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW)

Chatham Lodging Trust (NYSE:CLDT) and Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings for Chatham Lodging Trust and Highwoods Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Chatham Lodging Trust	1	0	2	0	2.33
Highwoods Properties	1	4	2	0	2.14

Chatham Lodging Trust presently has a consensus price target of $9.50, suggesting a potential upside of 37.26%. Highwoods Properties has a consensus price target of $31.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.90%. Given Chatham Lodging Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Chatham Lodging Trust is more favorable than Highwoods Properties.

Dividends

Chatham Lodging Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.2%. Highwoods Properties pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 7.7%. Chatham Lodging Trust pays out 3,600.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Highwoods Properties pays out 170.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Chatham Lodging Trust has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Highwoods Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Chatham Lodging Trust and Highwoods Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Chatham Lodging Trust	$317.21 million	1.06	$4.17 million	$0.01	692.10
Highwoods Properties	$825.86 million	3.44	$102.25 million	$1.17	22.10

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

Profitability

This table compares Chatham Lodging Trust and Highwoods Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Chatham Lodging Trust	2.89%	1.11%	0.72%
Highwoods Properties	15.98%	5.48%	2.13%

Volatility and Risk

Chatham Lodging Trust has a beta of 1.12, meaning that its stock price is 12% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Highwoods Properties has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its stock price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

88.4% of Chatham Lodging Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.3% of Highwoods Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.5% of Chatham Lodging Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of Highwoods Properties shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Highwoods Properties beats Chatham Lodging Trust on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Chatham Lodging Trust

Chatham Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused primarily on investing in upscale, extended-stay hotels and premium-branded, select-service hotels. The company owns 39 hotels totaling 5,915 rooms/suites in 16 states and the District of Columbia.

About Highwoods Properties

Highwoods Properties, Inc., headquartered in Raleigh, is a publicly-traded (NYSE:HIW), fully-integrated office real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages properties primarily in the best business districts (BBDs) of Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Nashville, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond and Tampa. Highwoods is in the work-placemaking business. We believe that by creating environments and experiences where the best and brightest can achieve together what they cannot apart, we can deliver greater value to our customers, their teammates and, in turn, our stakeholders.