Comparing Summit Hotel Properties (NYSE:INN) & National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI)

Summit Hotel Properties (NYSE:INN) and National Health Investors (NYSE:NHI) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and risk.

Volatility & Risk

Summit Hotel Properties has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, National Health Investors has a beta of 0.55, suggesting that its share price is 45% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Summit Hotel Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.5%. National Health Investors pays an annual dividend of $3.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.0%. Summit Hotel Properties pays out -110.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. National Health Investors pays out 118.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Summit Hotel Properties has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Summit Hotel Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings for Summit Hotel Properties and National Health Investors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Summit Hotel Properties	2	2	1	0	1.80
National Health Investors	0	2	4	1	2.86

Summit Hotel Properties presently has a consensus price target of $5.00, indicating a potential downside of 13.97%. National Health Investors has a consensus price target of $87.50, indicating a potential upside of 17.70%. Given National Health Investors’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe National Health Investors is more favorable than Summit Hotel Properties.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Summit Hotel Properties and National Health Investors”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Summit Hotel Properties	$729.47 million	0.86	-$7.69 million	($0.29)	-20.04
National Health Investors	$375.63 million	9.59	$142.18 million	$3.10	23.98

National Health Investors has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Summit Hotel Properties. Summit Hotel Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than National Health Investors, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability

This table compares Summit Hotel Properties and National Health Investors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Summit Hotel Properties	-1.75%	-1.03%	-0.46%
National Health Investors	36.86%	9.82%	5.35%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

96.5% of Summit Hotel Properties shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of National Health Investors shares are held by institutional investors. 4.3% of Summit Hotel Properties shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of National Health Investors 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.

Summary

National Health Investors beats Summit Hotel Properties on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Summit Hotel Properties

Summit Hotel Properties, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust focused on owning premium-branded lodging properties with efficient operating models primarily in the upscale segment of the lodging industry. As of November 1, 2023, the Company’s portfolio consisted of 101 assets, 57 of which are wholly owned, with a total of 15,035 guestrooms located in 24 states.

About National Health Investors

Incorporated in 1991, National Health Investors, Inc. (NYSE:NHI) is a real estate investment trust specializing in sale, leasebacks, joint-ventures, senior housing operating partnerships, and mortgage and mezzanine financing of need-driven and discretionary senior housing and medical investments. NHI's portfolio consists of independent living, assisted living and memory care communities, entrance-fee retirement communities, skilled nursing facilities, and specialty hospitals.