Analyzing W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) & Prologis (NYSE:PLD)

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) and Prologis (NYSE:PLD) are both large-cap finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, dividends, risk, valuation, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for W. P. Carey and Prologis, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
W. P. Carey	0	7	2	0	2.22
Prologis	1	6	8	1	2.56

W. P. Carey presently has a consensus price target of $62.88, indicating a potential upside of 12.66%. Prologis has a consensus price target of $130.13, indicating a potential upside of 14.99%. Given Prologis’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Prologis is more favorable than W. P. Carey.

Profitability

This table compares W. P. Carey and Prologis’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
W. P. Carey	35.12%	6.45%	3.14%
Prologis	39.08%	5.34%	3.28%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares W. P. Carey and Prologis”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
W. P. Carey	$1.59 billion	7.69	$708.33 million	$2.54	21.97
Prologis	$7.89 billion	13.28	$3.06 billion	$3.31	34.19

Prologis has higher revenue and earnings than W. P. Carey. W. P. Carey is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Prologis, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

W. P. Carey pays an annual dividend of $3.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Prologis pays an annual dividend of $3.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. W. P. Carey pays out 137.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Prologis pays out 116.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Prologis has increased its dividend for 11 consecutive years.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

73.7% of W. P. Carey shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Prologis shares are held by institutional investors. 1.2% of W. P. Carey shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Prologis shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Risk and Volatility

W. P. Carey has a beta of 0.96, suggesting that its share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Prologis has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its share price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Prologis beats W. P. Carey on 15 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Prologis

Prologis, Inc. is the global leader in logistics real estate with a focus on high-barrier, high-growth markets. At March 31, 2024, the company owned or had investments in, on a wholly owned basis or through co-investment ventures, properties and development projects expected to total approximately 1.2 billion square feet (115 million square meters) in 19 countries. Prologis leases modern logistics facilities to a diverse base of approximately 6,700 customers principally across two major categories: business-to-business and retail/online fulfillment.