Baird/STR

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index reported a 0.5-percent increase in February to 2,619. The index ended 2012 at 2,448.

Robert W. Baird and Co. 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 underperformed both the MSCI REIT (RMZ) (+1.0 percent) and the S&P 500 (+1.1 percent) in February.

"Based on our preliminary February results, the industry reported slight performance increases for the month," said Randy Smith, co-founder and chairman of STR. "However, we expect the industry to report steady growth throughout the year even as investors are taking a conservative approach due to continued economic uncertainties."

"Hotel stocks underperformed slightly in February, snapping three consecutive months of outperformance," said David Loeb, senior hotel research analyst and managing director at Baird. "Fourth-quarter earnings reports were generally solid and came in above lowered expectations; however, 2013 outlooks and guidance came in a bit light of investor expectations but management teams are likely being overly conservative given several macroeconomic and political uncertainties on the horizon. Several (real estate investment trusts) also cited aggressive renovation plans as a reason for modest guidance. Longer-term supply-and-demand fundamentals remain solid but full stock valuations keep us cautious in the near term."

About the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index was set to equal 1,000 on 1 January 2000, as its starting point. The Index reached its peak of 3,178 on 5 July 2007. The Index's lowest point occurred on 6 March 2009, when it dropped to 573.

The Index is available exclusively on www.hotelstockindex.com and www.HotelNewsNow.com. The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index is a cobranded index created by Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird) and Smith Travel Research, Inc. (STR). The market-cap weighted Index is comprised of 15 of the largest market capitalization hotel companies publicly traded on a U.S. exchange and attempts to characterize the performance of hotel stocks. The Index is maintained by Baird and is hosted on HotelNewsNow.com. The Index is not actively managed and a direct investment cannot be made in it.

The companies that comprise the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index: Choice Hotels International, DiamondRock Hospitality, Hersha Hospitality Trust, Hospitality Properties Trust, Host Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, InterContinental Hotels Group, LaSalle Hotel Properties, Marriott International, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, RLJ Lodging Trust, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Sunstone Hotel Investors and Wyndham Worldwide.

About Baird

Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Established in 1919, Baird has more than 2,700 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients. Baird had nearly $99 billion in client assets on Dec. 31, 2012. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird ranked No. 14 on FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2013 – its tenth consecutive year on the list. Baird's principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird's investment banking and private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird's Web site at http://www.rwbaird.com//ohttp://www.rwbaird.com/" target="_blank">www.rwbaird.com.

About STR

STR provides premium data benchmarking, analytics and marketplace insights for the global hospitality industry. Founded in 1985, STR maintains a presence in 15 countries with a corporate North American headquarters in Hendersonville, Tennessee, an international headquarters in London, and an Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. STR was acquired in October 2019 by CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces. For more information, please visit str.com and costargroup.com.