Head-To-Head Analysis: SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG) and Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR)

Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR) and SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, profitability, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations and valuation.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Rexford Industrial Realty and SL Green Realty”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Rexford Industrial Realty	$936.41 million	10.14	$273.80 million	$1.42	28.72
SL Green Realty	$886.27 million	3.68	$30.65 million	$0.01	4,575.70

Rexford Industrial Realty has higher revenue and earnings than SL Green Realty. Rexford Industrial Realty is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than SL Green Realty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Rexford Industrial Realty pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. SL Green Realty pays an annual dividend of $3.09 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.8%. Rexford Industrial Realty pays out 121.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. SL Green Realty pays out 30,900.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Rexford Industrial Realty has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and SL Green Realty has increased its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares Rexford Industrial Realty and SL Green Realty’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Rexford Industrial Realty	33.88%	3.81%	2.62%
SL Green Realty	1.75%	-0.22%	-0.08%

Insider & Institutional Ownership

99.5% of Rexford Industrial Realty shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 90.0% of SL Green Realty shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Rexford Industrial Realty shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 5.0% of SL Green Realty shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings for Rexford Industrial Realty and SL Green Realty, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Rexford Industrial Realty	1	10	3	0	2.14
SL Green Realty	1	9	6	0	2.31

Rexford Industrial Realty currently has a consensus price target of $43.08, suggesting a potential upside of 5.64%. SL Green Realty has a consensus price target of $58.65, suggesting a potential upside of 28.17%. Given SL Green Realty’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe SL Green Realty is more favorable than Rexford Industrial Realty.

Risk & Volatility

Rexford Industrial Realty has a beta of 1.22, meaning that its share price is 22% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SL Green Realty has a beta of 1.61, meaning that its share price is 61% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Rexford Industrial Realty beats SL Green Realty on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Rexford Industrial Realty

Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, which engages in owning and operating industrial properties in infill markets. The company was founded by Richard S. Ziman on January 18, 2013 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.

About SL Green Realty

3SL Green Realty Corp., Manhattan’s largest office landlord, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust, or REIT, that is focused primarily on acquiring, managing and maximizing value of Manhattan commercial properties. As of June 30, 2022, SL Green held interests in 64 buildings totaling 34.4 million square feet. This included ownership interests in 26.3 million square feet of Manhattan buildings and 7.2 million square feet securing debt and preferred equity investments.