CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—Hotels and self-storage are the sectors to beat in two significant REIT metrics, according to industry research. Locally based SNL Financial says lodging trusts led the way in exceeding estimates for funds from operations per share for the first quarter, while NAREIT said earlier this month that self-storage REITs posted the highest total returns of any major property sector during the first five months of this year.

Among the 20 equity REITs that beat earnings expectations by the widest margins, the hotel sector accounted for nine, or 45% of the total. Coming out on top was Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., which led with a FactSet FFO-per-share estimate beat of 115.5%. SNL cites a research report from RBC Capital Markets analyst Wes Golladay, who wrote that strong group business and margin expansion bostered BEE's strong Q1 showing.

No other REIT in the top 20 beat the FactSet estimate by such a wide margin, although it was another hotel company, FelCor Lodging Trust, that came in second behind BEE. Other lodging REITs in the top 20 included Hersha Hospitality Trust, Sunstone Hotel Investors, LaSalle Hotel Properties, Summit Hotel Properties, DiamondRock Hospitality, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust and Chesapeake Lodging Trust.

At the other end of the spectrum—earnings that came in below estimates—no sector was as dominant as hotels were in the earnings-beat roster. Healthcare REITs reported four of the 20 largest misses for Q1, but the biggest shortfall was incurred by a diversified REIT: Select Income REIT, with earnings that fell short of the FactSet estimate by 45.2%.

By property type, NAREIT says that four sectors of listed REITs outperformed the S&P 500 Index in the first five months of 2015. Self-storage led the gains with an 8.2% total return for the period.

Next up was the manufactured homes segment, with a 6.17% total return. The commercial financing sub-sector of the FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITs Index followed with a 5.46% total return for the year, while apartments produced a 4.38% gain. Diversified REITs managed a 1.76% year-to-date gain, while home financing REITs delivered a 1.16% total return.

The overall FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITs Index provided a 2.14% YTD return and reported a 10.51% dividend yield at the end of May. The FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index declined 1.38% on a total return basis for the same period, and recorded a dividend yield of 3.62%.

Over the first five months of the year, the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index, which contains both equity and mortgage REITs for the broadest benchmark of the stock exchange-listed US REIT industry, delivered a total return of –0.96%, compared to the S&P 500 Index's total return of 3.23%. On the other hand, the dividend yield for the FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index was 4.02% for the period, compared with a dividend yield of 2.05% for the S&P 500.

For the month of May, the All REITs Index was down 0.11% on a total return basis, following a 4.71% decline in April that wiped out the gains seen in Q1. Conversely, the S&P 500 Index increased by 1.29% for the month. The FTSE NAREIT All REITs Index includes 224 REITs with a combined equity market capitalization of $927 billion.