Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) & Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) Head-To-Head Comparison

Simon Property Group (NYSE:SPG) and Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) are both real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

93.0% of Simon Property Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.9% of Federal Realty Investment Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 8.7% of Simon Property Group shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of Federal Realty Investment Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Simon Property Group and Federal Realty Investment Trust, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Simon Property Group	0	13	9	0	2.41
Federal Realty Investment Trust	0	6	9	1	2.69

Simon Property Group presently has a consensus target price of $228.67, suggesting a potential downside of 0.13%. Federal Realty Investment Trust has a consensus target price of $124.88, suggesting a potential upside of 10.78%. Given Federal Realty Investment Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Federal Realty Investment Trust is more favorable than Simon Property Group.

Profitability

This table compares Simon Property Group and Federal Realty Investment Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Simon Property Group	63.08%	78.14%	11.35%
Federal Realty Investment Trust	32.60%	13.76%	4.85%

Volatility & Risk

Simon Property Group has a beta of 1.27, meaning that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Federal Realty Investment Trust has a beta of 0.94, meaning that its stock price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Simon Property Group pays an annual dividend of $9.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Federal Realty Investment Trust pays an annual dividend of $4.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Simon Property Group pays out 64.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Federal Realty Investment Trust pays out 92.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Simon Property Group has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years and Federal Realty Investment Trust has increased its dividend for 58 consecutive years. Federal Realty Investment Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Simon Property Group and Federal Realty Investment Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Simon Property Group	$6.36 billion	11.64	$4.63 billion	$13.86	16.52
Federal Realty Investment Trust	$1.28 billion	7.58	$411.08 million	$5.00	22.54

Simon Property Group has higher revenue and earnings than Federal Realty Investment Trust. Simon Property Group is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Federal Realty Investment Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Simon Property Group beats Federal Realty Investment Trust on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Simon Property Group

Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG) is a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). Simon Property Group, L.P., or the Operating Partnership, is our majority-owned partnership subsidiary that owns all of our real estate properties and other assets. In this package, the terms Simon, we, our, or the Company refer to Simon Property Group, Inc., the Operating Partnership, and its subsidiaries. We own, develop and manage premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations, which consist primarily of malls, Premium Outlets, The Mills, and International Properties. At June 30, 2024, we owned or had an interest in 230 properties comprising 183 million square feet in North America, Asia and Europe. We also owned an 84% interest in The Taubman Realty Group, or TRG, which owns 22 regional, super-regional, and outlet malls in the U.S. and Asia. Additionally, at June 30, 2024, we had a 22.4% ownership interest in Klépierre, a publicly traded, Paris-based real estate company, which owns shopping centers in 14 European countries.

About Federal Realty Investment Trust

Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of ownership, management, and redevelopment of retail and mixed-use properties located primarily in communities where demand exceeds supply in strategically selected metropolitan markets. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in North Bethesda, MD.