Head-To-Head Contrast: NNN REIT (NYSE:NNN) & CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW)

NNN REIT (NYSE:NNN) and CoreCivic (NYSE:CXW) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for NNN REIT and CoreCivic, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
NNN REIT	1	9	3	0	2.15
CoreCivic	0	0	3	0	3.00

NNN REIT presently has a consensus price target of $44.54, indicating a potential upside of 7.45%. CoreCivic has a consensus price target of $31.00, indicating a potential upside of 55.04%. Given CoreCivic’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe CoreCivic is more favorable than NNN REIT.

Risk and Volatility

NNN REIT has a beta of 1.1, indicating that its share price is 10% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, CoreCivic has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

90.0% of NNN REIT shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 85.1% of CoreCivic shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.8% of NNN REIT shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.9% of CoreCivic shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares NNN REIT and CoreCivic”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
NNN REIT	$869.27 million	8.94	$396.83 million	$2.15	19.28
CoreCivic	$1.96 billion	1.11	$68.87 million	$0.61	32.78

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

Profitability

This table compares NNN REIT and CoreCivic’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NNN REIT	45.65%	9.28%	4.51%
CoreCivic	3.51%	5.97%	2.97%

Dividends

NNN REIT pays an annual dividend of $2.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.6%. CoreCivic pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.8%. NNN REIT pays out 107.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. CoreCivic pays out 288.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. NNN REIT has increased its dividend for 35 consecutive years.

Summary

NNN REIT beats CoreCivic on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About NNN REIT

NNN REIT invests primarily in high-quality retail properties subject generally to long-term, net leases. As of December 31, 2023, the company owned 3,532 properties in 49 states with a gross leasable area of approximately 36.0 million square feet and a weighted average remaining lease term of 10.1 years. NNN is one of only three publicly traded REITs to have increased annual dividends for 34 or more consecutive years.

About CoreCivic

CoreCivic, Inc. owns and operates partnership correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities in the United States. It operates through three segments: CoreCivic Safety, CoreCivic Community, and CoreCivic Properties. The company provides a range of solutions to government partners that serve the public good through corrections and detention management, a network of residential reentry centers to help address America’s recidivism crisis, and government real estate solutions. Its correctional, detention, and residential reentry facilities offer rehabilitation and educational programs, including basic education, faith-based services, life skills and employment training, and substance abuse treatment. The company owns and operates correctional and detention facilities, residential reentry centers, and properties for lease. CoreCivic, Inc. was founded in 1983 and is based in Brentwood, Tennessee.