Financial Comparison: Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP) & Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA)

Easterly Government Properties (NYSE:DEA) and Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and valuation.

Volatility and Risk

Easterly Government Properties has a beta of 0.96, indicating that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Ryman Hospitality Properties has a beta of 1.22, indicating that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Easterly Government Properties and Ryman Hospitality Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Easterly Government Properties	1	3	2	0	2.17
Ryman Hospitality Properties	0	2	9	0	2.82

Easterly Government Properties presently has a consensus target price of $24.99, suggesting a potential upside of 16.65%. Ryman Hospitality Properties has a consensus target price of $111.00, suggesting a potential upside of 21.00%. Given Ryman Hospitality Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Ryman Hospitality Properties is more favorable than Easterly Government Properties.

Profitability

This table compares Easterly Government Properties and Ryman Hospitality Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Easterly Government Properties	4.24%	1.00%	0.42%
Ryman Hospitality Properties	9.58%	34.50%	4.19%

Dividends

Easterly Government Properties pays an annual dividend of $1.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.4%. Ryman Hospitality Properties pays an annual dividend of $4.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Easterly Government Properties pays out 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. Ryman Hospitality Properties pays out 121.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Ryman Hospitality Properties has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Easterly Government Properties and Ryman Hospitality Properties”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Easterly Government Properties	$302.05 million	3.27	$19.55 million	$0.30	71.42
Ryman Hospitality Properties	$2.34 billion	2.47	$271.64 million	$3.78	24.27

Ryman Hospitality Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Easterly Government Properties. Ryman Hospitality Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Easterly Government Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

86.5% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.5% of Ryman Hospitality Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 7.8% of Easterly Government Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of Ryman Hospitality Properties shares are held by company 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.

Summary

Ryman Hospitality Properties beats Easterly Government Properties on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Easterly Government Properties

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (NYSE: DEA) is based in Washington, D.C., and focuses primarily on the acquisition, development and management of Class A commercial properties that are leased to the U.S. Government. Easterly’s experienced management team brings specialized insight into the strategy and needs of mission-critical U.S. Government agencies for properties leased to such agencies either directly or through the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

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.