Contrasting STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) & Macerich (NYSE:MAC)

STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) and Macerich (NYSE:MAC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation and risk.

Risk & Volatility

STAG Industrial has a beta of 1.05, suggesting that its share price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Macerich has a beta of 2.62, suggesting that its share price is 162% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

STAG Industrial pays an annual dividend of $1.49 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.3%. Macerich pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. STAG Industrial pays out 143.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Macerich pays out -86.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares STAG Industrial and Macerich”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
STAG Industrial	$767.38 million	8.39	$189.22 million	$1.04	33.16
Macerich	$918.20 million	4.89	-$274.07 million	($0.79)	-22.52

STAG Industrial has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Macerich. Macerich is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than STAG Industrial, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for STAG Industrial and Macerich, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
STAG Industrial	0	4	4	0	2.50
Macerich	3	7	2	0	1.92

STAG Industrial presently has a consensus target price of $40.38, indicating a potential upside of 17.08%. Macerich has a consensus target price of $19.20, indicating a potential upside of 7.91%. Given STAG Industrial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe STAG Industrial is more favorable than Macerich.

Profitability

This table compares STAG Industrial and Macerich’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
STAG Industrial	24.64%	5.51%	2.89%
Macerich	8.98%	3.15%	1.05%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

88.7% of STAG Industrial shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 87.4% of Macerich shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of STAG Industrial shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Macerich shares are owned by 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.

Summary

STAG Industrial beats Macerich on 12 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About STAG Industrial

STAG Industrial, Inc. is a real estate investment company, which engages in acquiring, owning, and managing single-tenant, industrial real estate assets. It offers industrial real estate operating platform to real estate ownership. The company was founded by Benjamin S. Butcher on July 21, 2010 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.

About Macerich

Macerich is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT). As a leading owner, operator and developer of high-quality retail real estate in densely populated and attractive U.S. markets, Macerich’s portfolio is concentrated in California, the Pacific Northwest, Phoenix/Scottsdale, and the Metro New York to Washington, D.C. corridor. Developing and managing properties that serve as community cornerstones, Macerich currently owns 47 million square feet of real estate consisting primarily of interests in 44 regional town centers. Macerich is firmly dedicated to advancing environmental goals, social good and sound corporate governance. A recognized leader in sustainability, Macerich has achieved a #1 Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) ranking for the North American retail sector for nine consecutive years (2015-2023).