Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI – Get Free Report) and W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC – Get Free Report) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.
Dividends
Sun Communities pays an annual dividend of $3.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. W. P. Carey pays an annual dividend of $3.46 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Sun Communities pays out 324.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. W. P. Carey pays out 131.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. W. P. Carey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Sun Communities and W. P. Carey, as provided by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Sun Communities | 0 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 2.55 |
| W. P. Carey | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 2.00 |
Valuation & Earnings
This table compares Sun Communities and W. P. Carey’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Sun Communities | $3.22 billion | 4.65 | -$201.00 million | $1.16 | 103.75 |
| W. P. Carey | $1.74 billion | 6.92 | $708.33 million | $2.63 | 20.94 |
W. P. Carey has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Sun Communities. W. P. Carey is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Sun Communities, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
99.6% of Sun Communities shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 73.7% of W. P. Carey shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Sun Communities shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of W. P. Carey shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility & Risk
Sun Communities has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, W. P. Carey has a beta of 0.91, meaning that its share price is 9% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Sun Communities and W. P. Carey’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Sun Communities | 4.46% | 1.87% | 0.84% |
| W. P. Carey | 33.65% | 6.41% | 3.13% |
Summary
W. P. Carey beats Sun Communities on 9 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Sun Communities
Established in 1975, Sun Communities, Inc. became a publicly owned corporation in December 1993. The Company is a fully integrated REIT listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol: SUI. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned, operated, or had an interest in a portfolio of 667 developed MH, RV and Marina properties comprising 179,310 developed sites and approximately 48,030 wet slips and dry storage spaces in the U.S., the UK and Canada.
About W. P. Carey
W. P. Carey ranks among the largest net lease REITs with a well-diversified portfolio of high-quality, operationally critical commercial real estate, which includes 1,424 net lease properties covering approximately 173 million square feet and a portfolio of 89 self-storage operating properties as of December 31, 2023. With offices in New York, London, Amsterdam and Dallas, the company remains focused on investing primarily in single-tenant, industrial, warehouse and retail properties located in the U.S. and Northern and Western Europe, under long-term net leases with built-in rent escalations.
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