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— Warren Buffett

A five-year holding period can be especially instructive for evaluating a hotel REIT such as Host Hotels & Resorts Inc (NASD: HST), where operating results, occupancy trends, room rates, capital allocation, and dividends all influence shareholder returns. Looking at Host Hotels & Resorts stock performance since 2021 shows how a combination of share-price appreciation and dividend reinvestment affected long-term total return.

Using the period from 10/20/2021 through 10/19/2026, a hypothetical $10,000 investment in HST would have grown to $18,530.58 with dividends reinvested. That translates to an 85.30% total return, or an average annual return of 13.13%.

HST Five-Year Return Summary

HST 5-Year Return Details
Start date:	10/20/2021	$10,000 10/20/2021   $18,530 10/19/2026
End date:	10/19/2026
Start price/share:	$16.72
End price/share:	$24.19
Starting shares:	598.09
Ending shares:	766.01
Dividends reinvested/share:	$4.60
Total return:	85.30%
Average annual return:	13.13%
Starting investment:	$10,000.00
Ending investment:	$18,530.58

The result is notable because it reflects more than a recovery in the share price. It also captures the effect of reinvested dividends, which increased the share count from 598.09 to 766.01 over the period. For income-oriented REIT investors, that distinction matters: total return can differ materially from price return when distributions are consistently reinvested.

[These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]

What Drove Host Hotels & Resorts Total Return?

Host Hotels & Resorts is a lodging REIT, so its equity performance tends to be tied to hotel fundamentals rather than the lease structures common in many other real estate sectors. Revenue per available room, occupancy, average daily rate, group and business travel demand, convention activity, and capital spending across the portfolio can all have a significant effect on cash flow and valuation.

Starting the measurement period in late 2021 is also important context. By then, hotel real estate was emerging from a historically weak operating environment caused by the pandemic. That made subsequent results sensitive to the pace of travel normalization, pricing recovery, and the return of higher-margin segments such as group and corporate demand. In that setting, a five-year outcome for HST was shaped both by operating recovery and by the resumption and compounding of dividends.

Dividend Reinvestment and Share Growth

Over the five-year period shown above, Host Hotels & Resorts paid $4.60 per share in dividends that were assumed to be reinvested. That reinvestment meaningfully increased the ending share count, which in turn amplified the ending value of the original investment.

In practical terms, the return breaks down into two components:

• Share-price appreciation from $16.72 to $24.19
• Additional shares accumulated through dividend reinvestment

This is why total return is generally the more useful measure for evaluating REIT performance over time. A stock may show only moderate price appreciation, yet still deliver stronger overall results once cash distributions are reinvested.

Current Yield and Yield on Cost

Based on the most recent annualized dividend rate of $0.80 per share, HST has a current yield of approximately 3.31% using the $24.19 ending share price in this example.

Another useful reference point is yield on cost, which compares the current annualized dividend with the original purchase price. Using the same inputs, a $0.80 annual dividend against the original $16.72 entry price implies a yield on cost of about 4.78%.

Yield on cost can help show how an income stream has evolved relative to an investor’s entry point, but it should not replace current valuation analysis. For decision-making today, the more relevant figures are the stock’s present yield, underlying cash-generation outlook, balance-sheet position, and property-level operating trends.

Key Takeaways

• A $10,000 investment in Host Hotels & Resorts on 10/20/2021 would have grown to $18,530.58 by 10/19/2026, assuming dividend reinvestment.
• That represents an 85.30% total return and a 13.13% average annual return.
• Dividend reinvestment increased the share count from 598.09 to 766.01.
• For HST, total return is a better performance measure than price change alone because dividends contributed materially to the ending value.

For long-horizon investors, the HST example illustrates a broader point: in cyclical real estate sectors, entry point, recovery dynamics, and capital returns can combine to produce outcomes that are not fully captured by the stock chart alone.

Here’s one more investment quote before you go:
“Cash is a fact, profit is an opinion.” — Alfred Rappaport