HST vs. WELL: Host Hotels & Resorts vs. Welltower Stock Comparison

Company Profile

Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) and Welltower (WELL) both fall under the Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry group, but HST is classified in Hotel & Resort REITs while WELL is classified in Health Care REITs.

Both Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) and Welltower (WELL) 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 Welltower (WELL) at 3.92% is closer to the peer norm — stronger capital efficiency for HST.

Neither Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) nor Welltower (WELL) 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 Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Welltower (WELL) 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

Welltower (WELL) at 35.82% clears its industry range for revenue growth, far stronger top-line momentum than Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) at 7.57%, which is closer to a typical peer reading.

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

Growth Metrics

Financial Strength

Welltower (WELL) at 1.66 keeps current ratio within its industry’s typical mid-range, while Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) at 5.39 sits above its industry’s typical mid-range — comfortable liquidity, though possibly with more idle current assets relative to peers.

Welltower (WELL) at 0.42 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 Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) at 3.25% and Welltower (WELL) at 1.30% offer bottom-quartile dividend income relative to share price versus industry peers.

An earnings-based payout ratio fits neither Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) nor Welltower (WELL) 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 Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) in Equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) or Welltower (WELL) 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 Welltower (WELL) at 13.03 looks rich in the upper quartile — a clear gap in price per dollar of revenue.

Both Host Hotels & Resorts (HST) at 2.66 and Welltower (WELL) at 3.69 carry a premium to book value versus peers, sitting in the upper P/B ratio quartile of their industries.

Valuation Metrics