DLR vs. HST: Digital Realty Trust vs. Host Hotels & Resorts Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) and Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) both fall under the Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group, but DLR is classified in Specialized REITs while HST is classified in Hotel & Resort REITs.

Both Digital Realty Trust (DLR) and Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) are REITs — read their payout ratios and P/E alongside FFO (funds from operations) rather than at face value.

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

Trailing Returns

Calendar-Year Returns

Performance Metrics

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

Return Distribution

Risk Metrics

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Profitability

Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) at 14.21% sits in the top ROE quartile, while Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 3.34% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for HST.

Neither Digital Realty Trust (DLR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) nor Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) is well served by net margin: heavy depreciation makes net income a poor profitability proxy in their businesses, where FFO-based measures are the standard read.

Neither side reports a meaningful operating margin: for Digital Realty Trust (DLR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), funding costs are part of the core business, so net margin and ROE are the cleaner profitability reads.

Profitability Metrics

Growth

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 10.04% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) at 7.57% is closer to the peer norm — faster top-line expansion for DLR.

EPS growth isn't a meaningful figure for either Digital Realty Trust (DLR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) or Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) under our convention.

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) at 5.39 carries current ratio above its industry’s typical mid-range, while Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 0.58 runs in the tighter-liquidity quartile — different working-capital profiles, both worth examining.

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 0.69 keeps leverage in the lower industry quartile, while Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) at 0.86 runs a more typical debt-to-equity mix.

Financial Strength Metrics

Dividends

Both Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 2.79% and Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) at 3.25% offer bottom-quartile dividend income relative to share price versus industry peers.

An earnings-based payout ratio fits neither Digital Realty Trust (DLR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) nor Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs): their distributions are mandated and conventionally measured against FFO, so the accounting-earnings ratio overstates both.

Dividend Metrics

Valuation

P/E ratio is not a meaningful valuation yardstick for either Digital Realty Trust (DLR) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) or Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs): depreciation suppresses reported earnings in their businesses, and price-to-FFO is the conventional yardstick instead.

Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) at 2.73 looks cheap on sales in the lower P/S ratio quartile, while Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 9.47 looks rich in the upper quartile — a clear gap in price per dollar of revenue.

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) at 2.39 is valued about in line with its industry on P/B ratio, while Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) at 2.66 carries an above-peer premium to book — HST is pricier on assets.

Valuation Metrics