Head to Head Analysis: Macerich (NYSE:MAC) vs. STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG)

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

Insider and Institutional Ownership

87.4% of Macerich shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 88.7% of STAG Industrial shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Macerich shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.1% of STAG Industrial shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for Macerich and STAG Industrial, as reported by MarketBeat.

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

Macerich currently has a consensus target price of $19.20, suggesting a potential upside of 11.21%. STAG Industrial has a consensus target price of $40.38, suggesting a potential upside of 18.59%. Given STAG Industrial’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe STAG Industrial is more favorable than Macerich.

Dividends

Macerich pays an annual dividend of $0.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. STAG Industrial pays an annual dividend of $1.49 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.4%. Macerich pays out -86.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. 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.

Profitability

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

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

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Macerich	$918.20 million	4.75	-$274.07 million	($0.79)	-21.85
STAG Industrial	$767.38 million	8.28	$189.22 million	$1.04	32.74

STAG Industrial has lower revenue, but higher earnings 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.

Risk & Volatility

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

Summary

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

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).

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.