Pebblebrook Hotel Trust Earnings Continue Falling as Hotels Exit the Portfolio
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) closed the sale of another hotel during the quarter bringing its total to nine hotels since beginning its strategic disposition plan. However, with fewer hotels generating revenue, it's causing the company's financial results to decline, which was the case again during the second quarter.
Pebblebrook results: The raw numbers
What happened with Pebblebrook this quarter?
Pebblebrook's results continue to fall along with its property count:
- While Same-Property Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) slipped from the year-ago quarter, that was due to an anticipated weakness in San Francisco after the city's largest convention center closed for renovations. Further, Same-Property RevPAR was in the middle of the company's $216 to $220 guidance range, and if it weren't for the weakness in San Fransisco, it would have been up 2% versus last year.
- Those weaker room rates, when combined with the income loss from the hotels it sold over the past year drove the decline in AFFO. That said, it was above the high end of its $45.7 million to $48.8 million guidance range thanks to solid demand across many of its markets as well as higher-than-expected non-room revenue and lower expenses.
- Those same factors helped pushed AFFO per share above the company's $0.65 to $0.70 guidance range. Another factor boosting the per share results was the company's stock repurchase plan. During the quarter, the company bought back 1.1 million shares at an average price of $29.80 per share, pushing its year-to-date total to 3.2 million shares for $93.3 million. Meanwhile, the company's board authorized an additional $100 million for the repurchase program, giving it $156.7 million left to spend.
- One of the reasons the board increased the repurchase authorization is due to the close of the sale of Dumont NYC for $118 million during the quarter as well as a parking garage at its Revere Hotel Boston Common for $95 million. That brought its total sales up to $676.8 million, which is in the middle of its $500 million to $1 billion disposition goal. Given the current discount between its stock price and what hotel assets fetch in the private market, the company plans to continue opportunistically selling assets and take advantage of that disconnect.
What management had to say
CEO Jon Bortz, commented on the company's second-quarter results, saying that:
As Bortz notes, the company's hotels are performing well despite several headwinds. However, it remains concerned with softer business travel spending, which will likely mute demand for hotel rooms in the coming quarters.
Looking forward
That said, despite those weaker business travel trends, the company is boosting its full-year guidance. Pebblebrook now sees AFFO coming in between $171.7 million to $177.7 million, which is up from its prior range of $167.2 million to $176.5 million. Meanwhile, it sees AFFO per share between $2.45 to $2.53, which is an improvement from its previous range of $2.37 to $2.50 per share, due in part to the expectation of a lower share count thanks to its repurchase program.
10 stocks we like better than Pebblebrook Hotel TrustWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*
David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Pebblebrook Hotel Trust wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
Click here to learn about these picks!
*Stock Advisor returns as of July 6, 2017
Matt DiLallo has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Pebblebrook Hotel Trust. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.