HENDERSONVILLE, Tennessee, and MILWAUKEE—The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index ended March with a 4.8-percent increase and ended first-quarter 2012 with a 19.7-percent increase to 2,424. The index ended 2011 at 2,025.
Robert W. Baird & Company and STR partnered to create the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index—the first widely available U.S. hotel stock index in the hotel industry. The index combines Baird’s financial markets expertise, the data processing of STR and the up-to-the-minute distribution capabilities of HotelNewsNow.com, the industry’s leading hotel news website.
The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index outperformed both the MSCI REIT (RMZ) (+4.7 percent) and the S&P 500 (+3.1 percent). The RMZ ended the quarter with a 9.8-percent increase, and the S&P 500 ended with a 12.0-percent increase.
“The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index started the year off strong compared to 2011, illustrating the restored confidence in the hotel industry,” said Randy Smith, chairman and co-founder at STR. “Even up against tough year-over-year comparisons, the industry’s metrics are stable. There is still a long way to go, but we remain hopeful the industry will continue to strengthen.”
“After pulling back a bit in mid-February, hotel stocks continued their upward trend since bottoming in early October last year,” said David Loeb, senior hotel research analyst and managing director at Baird. “Demand trends have remained robust and investors are looking to the stronger second and third quarters to gauge the strength of the recovery.”
Media Contacts:
Jeff Higley
VP, Digital Media & Communications
jeff@str.com
+1 (615) 824-8664 ext. 3318
Rachael Spann Urie
Director, Public Relations
rurie@str.com
+1 (615) 824-8664 ext. 3305
Angela Pittman Taylor
Baird Public Relations
apittmantaylor@rwbaird.com
+1 (414) 765-7250
