Head-To-Head Survey: JBG SMITH Properties (NYSE:JBGS) versus SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG)

SL Green Realty (NYSE:SLG) and JBG SMITH Properties (NYSE:JBGS) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

90.0% of SL Green Realty shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 98.5% of JBG SMITH Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 5.9% of SL Green Realty shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 11.9% of JBG SMITH Properties shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares SL Green Realty and JBG SMITH Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
SL Green Realty	-16.92%	-4.37%	-1.53%
JBG SMITH Properties	-29.89%	-13.31%	-3.49%

Dividends

SL Green Realty pays an annual dividend of $2.47 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.8%. JBG SMITH Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.70 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.2%. SL Green Realty pays out -90.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. JBG SMITH Properties pays out -26.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. SL Green Realty has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

SL Green Realty has a beta of 1.6, suggesting that its stock price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, JBG SMITH Properties has a beta of 1.07, suggesting that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares SL Green Realty and JBG SMITH Properties”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
SL Green Realty	$983.27 million	3.74	-$88.28 million	($2.73)	-18.92
JBG SMITH Properties	$498.60 million	1.32	-$139.06 million	($2.61)	-4.32

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for SL Green Realty and JBG SMITH Properties, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
SL Green Realty	2	10	7	0	2.26
JBG SMITH Properties	3	0	0	0	1.00

SL Green Realty currently has a consensus price target of $57.27, suggesting a potential upside of 10.89%. JBG SMITH Properties has a consensus price target of $16.67, suggesting a potential upside of 47.89%. Given JBG SMITH Properties’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe JBG SMITH Properties is more favorable than SL Green Realty.

Summary

SL Green Realty beats JBG SMITH Properties on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About JBG SMITH Properties

JBG SMITH Properties is a real estate investment trust, which engages in owning, operating, investing in, and developing a portfolio of mixed-use properties. It operates through the following segments: Multifamily, Commercial, and Other. The Multifamily segment refers to the commercial buildings with public areas, retail spaces, and walkable streets. The Commercial segment rents to federal government tenants. The Other segment relates to development assets, corporate entities, land assets for which are the ground lessor and the elimination of inter-segment activity. The company was founded on October 27, 2016, and is headquartered in Bethesda, MD.