Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index Rises 11.3% in September

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The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index ended September at 2034, an 11.3-percent increase for the month and a 26.9-percent increase for year-to-date 2010. The Index ended 2009 at 1603.

Robert W. Baird & Co. (Baird) and STR partnered to create the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index-the first widely available U.S. hotel stock index in the industry. The index combines Baird's financial markets expertise, the data processing of STR and the industry's leading news website, HotelNewsNow.com.

"The increase in the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index is an indicator of some of the momentum that is building within the hotel industry," said Randy Smith, CEO of STR. "The revenue per available room (RevPAR) gains that we saw during the first half of this year were driven by increased occupancy, and now we're seeing RevPAR gains that are built on improved average daily rates in many markets. The anticipation of further average daily rate (ADR) improvement is a catalyst in attracting investors to the lodging sector."

"In September, we saw an improvement in sentiment with regard to the broader economy as well as the lodging space, which was the major driver of the Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index's 11.3 percent performance, beating the broader market and other real estate stocks," said David Loeb, managing director of Baird's hotel research platform. "Investors are looking for a strong finish to the year, and expectations for 2011 are also high as some investors see double-digit RevPAR growth as possible."

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