Baird/STR

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index ended January with a 13.0-percent increase to 2,288. 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 news website.

The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index outperformed the S&P 500 and the MSCI REIT (RMZ) in January, which increased 4.4 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.

"The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index started the year off strong, showing investors are confident in the hotel industry," said Randy Smith, chairman and co-founder of STR. "The industry is up against tough comparisons in 2012, and we hope to see performance growth that will further illustrate the strength of the industry."

"Hotel stocks continued their strong upward trend in January as favorable supply-and-demand characteristics dispelled investors' concerns that the lodging upcycle was slowing," said David Loeb, senior hotel research analyst and managing director at Baird. "Earnings season is fast approaching and expectations, which are fairly high, are for management teams to give upbeat commentary regarding the 2012 outlook. Recent economic indicators continue to bolster investor confidence in the lodging cycle's strength and duration."

As of 1 January 2012, the composition of the Index changed, with the addition of RLJ Lodging Trust (RLJ) and the removal of Orient-Express Hotels (OEH). A complete list of the stocks in the index can be found at www.hotelstockindex.com.

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 co-branded 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 oversees and manages client assets of nearly $84 billion. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird ranked No. 21 on FORTUNE's 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2012 – its ninth 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 private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird's Web site at 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 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.

Rachael Spann Urie
Director, Public Relations
+1 (615) 824-8664 ext. 3305
STR